Bless the Broken Roads

Written by: Inthemadhouse
You can read the original here:
All Credit goes to the original author

This was going to be trouble. If there was one thing I had become familiar with over my long, long life, it was that my gut instincts were usually right, and my gut was screaming that these two vampires were trouble. Or, more specifically, one of them was.

Alice, the petite female, had charmed all of us from the first moment she arrived. Moving through our home like a sprite, she had not only stolen Edwards’s room right out from under his nose, but actually done it with barely a mummer of complaint from him. Quite a feat, considering no one sulked quite like Edward.

The girl was very easy to love, because there were no secrets with her. What memories she had, she shared freely, never bothered by embarrassment or fear. If she had no memories, she simply said so and didn’t seem overly bothered by the fact. She slipped into our lives as though she had always been there.

No, it was the other one that was going to be a problem. The male, the one who barely spoke. Despite being the far larger, and unless I missed my guess completely, older, of the pair, he was seemed content to allow Alice to speak for him. Odd, but I’ve had seen any number of strange thing in bonded pairs.

Jasper, as we would come to find out his name was, bore the scars of a thousand fights fought, and all of them won. In his voice, I though I detected a hint of a southern drawl, which explained a lot. One of the reasons I have always avoided taking my family to places there because of the violence, of the covens that ran together and fought like wild animals to ensure their survival.

The nearly round marks covered the younger vampire’s face and hands, the only skin that was ever exposed. The doctor in me wanted to so something to help with the marks, but the vampire in me knew that Jasper wouldn’t react well to being touched. Not yet, anyway, it was too soon for trust. I wasn’t sure what I thought I would do anyway; the marks were all long since healed and no longer painful.

Still, I see the way my other children backed off, having never seen scars like those before. There was no way to explain them as anything other than bites, as each one bore a perfect imprint of a set of teeth. It was a side of vampirism that I had hoped my children would never find out about.

I have been worried about Jasper, about how a creature who had spent decades (or was it centuries? There was no way to be sure) fighting for everything he had ever had. How could he possibly adapt to life in a normal family? But he seemed to be willing to try, and that was all anyone could ask.

At the moment, the pair of them were sitting in the living room, sharing the couch while they read. Alice was laughing at something, her book held out to Jasper. He took it and smiled back, the first real smile I had seen from him yet. It gave me hope. If Jasper was still capable of bonding to Alice, he might be capable of at least living among the rest of us peacefully. Of course, I hoped he would come to think of us as his coven, and eventually his family but in the meantime, I had to take steps to ensure my family’s safety, as well as that of the humans around us.

A day passed, then two. We all found out more about their newest additions, as Alice loved to talk. She spun a story that started with her waking up in a field, abandoned and alone. Her golden eyes turned sad for a minute, causing Jasper to appear from nowhere and nuzzle up against her, a soft rumble coming out of his chest. She smiled at him and purred back, her expression growing calmer. “But it was alright, because I already knew that I was going to find Jasper. I didn’t know when then, but I knew he was coming.”

Her confidence was striking and I wasn’t about to let that go. “How did you know he was coming? You two hadn’t met before.”

Unease appeared in her expression, and she turned to Jasper. His eyes flicked between me and his mate, clearly weighing his options. Then he shrugged and gestured Alice to continue. She leaned towards me as if she were about to share an amazing secret. “Umm…well, you see, I can tell the future. Not all the time, just what’s defiantly going to happen. I saw Jasper and I meeting, and then us finding you guys.” Her voice turned small. “You believe me, right?”

“Course he does.” Jasper’s voice was low and reassuring. So reassuring, in fact, that I felt myself calm slightly.

“You aren’t the only one with a gift, Alice. Edward is quite an accomplished mind reader.” I understood the silent exchange between them a few minutes earlier. Jasper had probably warned her not to say anything about her premonitions, at least not until he was able to better assess this family and the strange situation he had found himself in. By telling them about Edward, I hoped to establish the beginnings of trust between the pair of them. My secrets for theirs.

“Anyway, I knew Jasper would find me if I went to Philadelphia and waited at this diner. So I went. I waited, and waited and waited, just like Cinderella with her prince. And you know what?” She hurried on, not giving me a chance to guess. “He was late! I waited at that diner for two weeks before he showed up!”

She shot a mock glare at Jasper, who ducked his head. I had to chuckle at the sight of the battle-scarred fighter backing down to a woman a foot shorter than him. “I said I was sorry.”

“I know, and I love you anyway. So, Dr. Cullen, can I call you Carlisle? Jasper and I stayed together for a while, just me and him, and then I knew we had to find you guys. So here we are, you were sort of hard to find.”

“I’m glad you were able to find us. Both of you.” I tacked on the last part for Jasper’s benefit, though the blond didn’t seem to be paying us much attention. He added nothing to the conversation, only seemed interested when Alice became upset or needed him. The pair of them seemed to have developed some alternate way of communication.

Suddenly Alice cocked her head. “Edward’s home!” She flew off the couch and out of the room, leaving Jasper and I alone together. I tried to repress a smile. Edward adored Alice, and treated her like any big brother would. He teased her a lot, calling her “freak” and “psycho”, but would fight anyone else to the death for looking at her wrong.

Much as he loved his new sister though, he didn’t seem to have much use for another brother. The feeling seemed to be mutual, and Edward and Jasper had spent the past two days on pretty much opposite ends of the house. The night before, Edward had confessed that he couldn’t get a good read on Jaspers thoughts. He wasn’t being confronted with silence, but the other vampire was projecting too much static, his thoughts jumping around so quickly that Edward couldn’t focus on one before it was gone. What Edward could glean, was that Jasper was scouting the place out, looking for exits and weapons, always aware of where the other family members were.

It was worrying, that Jasper was that good at blocking us out, and I wondered if Edward wasn’t the first mind reader the man had encountered. Or maybe he was just that tense and worried all of the time. Given the rarity of mind reading, and what I suspected about his past, the latter seemed far more likely. I hadn’t wanted to share that with my oldest son though, so I had just reminded Edward that it was rude to eavesdrop on someone else’s thoughts. If he was curious about Jasper, he could ask some questions. Not that that seemed like it would happen any time soon.

A soft scuffle broke his thoughts and he looked up to find Jasper backing out of the room. That was another thing, Jasper refused to turn his back on any of us, save Alice. A left-over habit from a time when he had had to be constantly on alert for a pending attack. Their eyes met and I did my best to smile. “Anything you want to add?”

The dark eyes studied mine deeply, and I was struck with an eerie sense that Jasper knew exactly what he had been thinking, and felt the wave of pity being sent to him. “No, sir.” Then he was gone, upstairs to hide or outside to run free of prying eyes and worrying new family members. Fuck, this wasn’t going well.

Another two weeks went by, and we began making some progress with Jasper. Well, some of us did. He and Emmett had taken to hunting together and playing card games when they were inside. Jasper taught him some new ones that depended on fast reflexes rather than strategy, and the two of them had taken to playing several hands in the evenings. They don’t play any sort of slap game, as Jasper still will not let us touch him, but I’ve seen him smiling more and more often as they play.

Edward still keeps his distance, though they do talk a bit. I want them to be able to be friends and brothers, but something tells me it won’t be easy. Oddly, Jasper seems to submit to Edward, and leaves him alone completely. Any moves forward are the choice of my oldest son. It’s almost enough to make me wonder if Jasper doesn’t have some power of his own, something that’s helping him navigate the mental and emotional minefields of this family.

Then there’s Rosalie. My oldest girl and by far the most difficult child. No, I take that back, she was the most difficult. Now that we have Jasper, I’m finding out exactly what difficult is. I’ve had my others for as long as they’ve been vampires. I’ve molded and shaped their every experience, making them understand that their lives had changed, but they still had a family who adored them and they were still safe in the world. Jasper had found out quickly that there was no safety unless he was aggressive enough to create it for himself. Attack first, and hope that by the time the consequences caught up with you, you had established yourself. Poor kid, no wonder he was having so much trouble. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Whether she would admit it or not, Rosalie knew what it was to suffer. To not be able to rely on anyone but herself, and sometimes not even that. She’s bonded to Jasper without any of us knowing when or how it had happened. I had thought they were ignoring each other, the way Jasper and Edward did. I would probably still think that had I not pulled into the driveway last night and caught sight of them sitting side by side on the roof of our house. I hadn’t disturbed them, though I had been curious. The rest of the family was out hunting, except for Alice, who was working quietly on some schoolwork I had left for her. I need to get my newest kids enrolled in school this fall, but I have to know where they stand academically first. Alice is clearly several years behind the age she appears and God alone knows where Jasper is. I haven’t done much for his future yet. I’m too busy trying to deal with his present.

The tiny girl leapt up and gave me a huge hug as soon as I came thought the door. “Carlisle! I missed you, how was work?”

As always, I felt my heart melt at her eagerness. “Work was about the same, Alice. How are you doing on your schoolwork?”

Her face clouded momentarily. “It’s hard. I know some of this stuff, but I don’t know how I know and some of its just symbols. I guess I didn’t go to school for very long when I was human.” The she was back to her perky self. “But it’s alright. Jasper will help me when he comes back inside.”

She must have seen my eyebrows raise, because she smiled knowingly. “He and Rosalie sit outside together every night. I guess they talk, I don’t know.” She spun in a happy circle, her eyes thoughtful. “I had really hoped that Rosalie and I would be best friends because I’ve always wanted a sister, but she’s going to be Jaspers best friend instead. I’m going to have to wait a while for my sister to come.”

Again there was a certainty that suggested she had seen it all play out. I wanted to ask, but I knew by now she would only give me a mysterious smile and say that nothing was certain yet. Sometimes her visions were hers alone, and she was reluctant to share them. Then the other part of what she had said struck me. “Jasper helps you? So, he’s pretty good at schoolwork?”

“Yes. He’s very smart, Carlisle, he’s just a little bit shy.”

He had more problems than being a little bit shy, but her words did comfort me. At the very least Jasper was capable of reading and doing basic math. If he could do that, he would be easy to place in high school, provide he could control himself when surrounded by a thousand teenagers. And the adults. Good God, the adults would probably be a bigger problem then the kids.

Despite making progress with the rest of my kids, Jasper, Esme, and I were at the same level of trust we had been at two weeks ago. Which was none. That’s not to say he was rude, or doing anything wrong, but neither one of us could get past his shell. He avoided conversation with us, and if trapped, would respond with as few words as possible.

“Yes, sir.”

“No, sir.”

“No, thank you, ma’am.”

The last bit was in response to Esme asking if he needed anything. It frustrated me, because I knew did. He and Alice had arrived without much in the way of clothing or possessions. If he would ask for something, anything, it would give us some clues as to his personality. But whether he was still suspicious of our motives or just didn’t like the idea of being indebted to us, he remained stubbornly mute. I didn’t look at Esme when he refused yet again, unwilling to allow him the pleasure of seeing that I was frustrated or attempting to play us off each other. “Alright Jasper, please let us know if there is anything we can do for you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jasper and Alice had been with us for almost six weeks my worst fears were realized. The fears that I would never completely tame him, that he would be turned into something that wasn’t quite like our family, but completely unlike a normal vampire either. In essence, that he would remain feral.

I was alone in the house that day. Edward was up in Alaska, spending a few weeks with another vegetarian clan up there. He was still upset about our new additions, and I had thought a break from the family was in order until we sorted things out a bit better. Esme had taken Alice shopping, her offer causing the tiny girl to squeal and throw herself into her new mother’s arms. Rosalie was supposed to accompany them, but she was being punished for a fight at school (no, I did not consider a boy touching her behind enough provocation for her to break his nose. Or his arm). In the end, she went hunting with Emmett and Jasper. They had been reluctant to take her at first, no doubt planning on spending the hunt male bonding, but she had used the magic words ‘I know where there’s a bear’, and gotten herself the invite.

The purported bear was quite a ways away, and I was looking forward to having the day to myself. I expected everyone to make it home from their various adventures about the same time. So it was a shock when Rosalie appeared alone only two hours after she left, her eyes wide with terror. “Carlisle! Carlisle! I need help!”

I was at her side in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

“Jasper attacked Emmett! I was afraid to try and get them apart, so I came to get you. He’s going to kill him!”

I wasn’t sure who she thought was going to kill whom, but I was following her out the door without any conscious thought. “What happened?”

If she could have cried, she would have. “I don’t know! We found the bear and Emmett got it. Then Jasper and I moved in on a herd of elk. We each got one, then suddenly Emmett was there and Jasper just grabbed him! He didn’t growl or act funny at all, just lunged forward and bit.”

“So Jasper defiantly broke skin?” Fuck, this was getting worse and worse. The venom would have already settled in my son’s body, causing the burning to start. There would be nothing I could do for the pain, despite all of my medical training. All I could do was hope that Jasper had only bitten once, and not too deeply. The more bites, the longer Emmett would have to suffer before the venom dissipated. I refused to let my self consider the possibility that it could be worse than a few nips.

Together Rosalie and I raced through the woods, my mind spinning in a thousand different directions. Why had Jasper snapped now? Despite his troubles with Esme and myself, he seemed to be relaxing into his new surroundings. You knew he was dangerous. You knew it from the first minute you saw those scars. And you still took him in. Look at the lion the great Carlisle Cullen managed to turn into a tame house cat. See, anyone, no matter where they came from can turn peaceful. Now you got one of your children injured, or worse.

Rosalie stopped, her head turning as she scented the air. “Down by the stream!”

It was too quiet. I expected to hear the thunderous sounds of the pair still battling it out. A true vampiric fight could be heard for 15 miles or more, the snarls and sounds of bodies being slammed against rocks and trees echoing through the distance. At the very least, we should be able to hear Emmett’s cries of pain as the venom coursed through him.

I burst into the clearing, skidding to a confused halt at the sight before me. Both Emmett and Jasper were still there, sitting a few feet from the elk Rosalie had mentioned earlier. It was only half drained, the blood still leaking from its torn throat and covering everything with its cloying scent. The fight had ended quickly, and neither one seemed to have moved since, which was odd. Besides being noisy, most true fights ended in death, with one competitor chasing the other for miles until the deed was done.

But it wasn’t any of that that caused me to pause. The pair of them sat closely, neither one speaking. I could easily see where Emmett’s sleeve had been torn and the mark of Jasper’s teeth in the skin. But the bite looked no more fresh than any one of Jaspers own injuries. Even as I watched, Jasper leaned forward to lick the mark several times. There seemed to be a purpose to what he was doing, and I was reluctant to interrupt. A quick flick of the blond head in my direction told me that Jasper was aware of my presence, but he gave me no real acknowledgment. He was far too focused on what he was doing.

Time passed, almost an hour if my watch was to be believed, though it seemed like seconds. Jasper continued to lick the injury, never taking his eyes of Emmett’s face. Emmett sat quietly, showing no signs of the pain he had to be feeling. The abruptly it was over, and Jasper gave his new brother’s throat a quick, almost apologetic, lick and stood up, stretching his muscles. Our eyes met and he ducked his head, clearly anticipating some sort of confrontation.

I was too shocked and confused to think of anything to say. Even Rosalie, famous both her protectiveness of Emmett and her big mouth, was silent. The tension in the air grew, then ebbed away sharply, leaving us still standing. Finally I spoke. “Come on now, both of you back to the house. Emmett, are you alright to walk?”

He grinned, the golden eyes laughing at me. “Yeah, it barely hurts.”

I wondered what exactly Jasper had done to him. I had never heard of anything that was able to prevent the pain from a vampires bite. Could Jasper possibly have a healing talent? I had waited and babied him long enough. I needed some answers.

The walk back was spent in silence as I formulated a plan. I needed to get the full story on what had happened from both of the boys, but I was afraid they would back each other up if I talked to them together. Emmett loved his new brother and might lie to keep him out of trouble. Jasper was more likely to take Emmett’s side than mine, especially since he probably figured he was about to be kicked out of the house.

When we got to the house, I took a steadying breath and tried to speak in my calmest voice. “I need to know exactly what just happened. Emmett, my study. Jasper, go on upstairs, I’ll come get you when I’m done with Emmett. You aren’t in trouble.” I did my best to broadcast sincerity with my eyes. If Jasper bolted on us while I was talking to Emmett, I would never catch him. I was pretty sure his bond to Alice would keep him here, but there was no way to be positive. I was just going to have to trust he would be there when I called.

Whether he believed me or not, Jasper nodded once and fled up the stairs, feet soundless as he ran. I listened until I heard the door to his room close before I turned to Emmett and pointed at my study door. Reluctantly, he went forward, looking very much like a condemned man on his way to the gallows.

I took a seat behind the desk and stared my son down, raising my eyebrows expectantly. Emmett squirmed under my gaze, but didn’t speak. I waited. 15 seconds, 30, one minute….

“It was my own fault, ok? Please don’t be pissed of with Jasper.” Emmett finally spoke. “It was my fault.”

“It looks like you came out worse in the fight, so what did you do to provoke Jasper?” Not that he deserved to get bitten, but between my three children, I’d come to find out that fights were very rarely completely one-sided.

Emmett looked down. “I didn’t mean to.” He sighed an unnecessary breath and continued. “He’d never taken anything as big as an elk down before, and I could tell he was a little nervous. But he did great, didn’t even make a mess out of if like I did the first time. I was just going to pat him on the back, but as soon as I got close enough, he bit me. I shouldn’t have tried to touch him.”

That explained it all. What Emmett saw as a normal, brotherly, gesture of congratulations, Jasper saw as an aggressive move towards the food he had barely gotten to taste. It was a reflex to respond violently to what he perceived as a threat.

“I see. Let me look at the bite.”

The arm was extended with a trust that made my heart ache. Would Jasper ever be able to do this? Or would he always nurse his hurts in silence?

The injury itself looked surprisingly good. It was very slightly raised, but not like I would have expected to see. The tooth marks were clearly defined, leading support to my theory that this had all been a terrible accident. Jasper hadn’t twisted as he bit, or ripped at the flesh. This had been a quick snap, and he had released as soon as he realized what he had done. “And it doesn’t hurt?”

“Just a little bit, but nothing like when I was turned. He took care of most of it.”

That was the other thing I had been curious about. “By licking it?”

“Uh-huh. He said that’s what they used to do for bites, you know, in his other family” Emmett sighed again. “Am I in trouble?” I shook my head. “Is he?” Another shake. “Good, because, like I said, it was my own fault, and he fixed it anyway.”

That was Emmett in a nutshell. He didn’t believe in holding a grudge, which was probably how Rosalie got away with so much. He might have been angry with Jasper when the bite first happened, but Jasper had atoned for his mistake and now they were back on level ground. My sweet natured boy.

“Ok, you can go now. Please tell Jasper I want to see him now.”

“Ok.” Then he was gone, running up the stairs with all the grace of a herd of elephants. I listened to his calls getting fainter and fainter. “Jasper! It’s your turn and boy is he mad!”

I groaned quietly. Great, now Jasper was going to be terrified before he ever got down here. Before I could think about it too long, though, Jasper was there, standing quietly in the doorway. I gestured him in. Unlike Emmett, he didn’t sit on the couch in the corner. He stood stiffly, eyes locked on mine and giving nothing away. Not exactly the frightened waif I had been imagining. But then, a good part of Jaspers life had been about hiding fear or weakness.

“Jasper, I’m not angry with you. I just want to know what happened.”

More silence as he weighed what he wanted to say in his mind. I waited. 15 seconds, 30, 1 minute, 2 minutes….Jasper was not proving as easy to break as Emmett. Finally he spoke. “He startled me.”

“Emmett?” It was an unnecessary question. There were only three males in the house and Jasper and I accounted for two of them. Emmett was the only one he could mean.

“Yes. I was very focused on the kill, and I didn’t see him until he was practically on top of me. So I bit him.” There was almost a hint of defiance in his tone. I did what I had to, to make sure I survived. Do you want to know more Carlisle Cullen? Do you want to hear about all the things that made me feel like a bite should be the first defense rather than the last?

No, I didn’t. There would come a day when he would tell me all about it, but not yet. I didn’t want it to be a bragging thing, or something said to shock me. I only wanted to hear about these things when he was ready to be healed of them.

“So, you didn’t really intend to hurt Emmett, you were just frightened because he had snuck up on you.”

Something flared in those sooty-gold eyes when I suggested his response had been fear based, but he didn’t call me on it. “I like Emmett. I wouldn’t deliberately harm him.”

I released an internal breath I hadn’t been aware I was holding. As much as I believed that Jasper hadn’t deliberately attacked Emmett, it eased me to hear him say it. “I didn’t think you had. I know that accidents happen.” Maybe if I kept repeating that, Jasper would come to believe it.

Still no change in expression, but I hurried on anyway. “I am curious about what you did after though. What exactly is the licking for?”

He startled, clearly expecting I would already know. “I always lick bites. It makes them burn less.”

He should certainly know the best way to deal with the pain of being bitten. I started to ask something else, but he continued on. “It works best when it’s your own bite. I guess your spit works against your venom. It’s why your mouth doesn’t burn so badly when you attack.”

Centuries of being a vampire, and decades of medical training, I had never once considered such a thing. But he was right. Even when my venom was flowing hard, I barely felt a tingle of pain in my mouth. It was something I had always accepted as simple fact, just part of being a vampire. Still, I should have thought of it! Mucus membranes, such as those in the mouth, should have been the most sensitive to the poison.

Jasper seemed to have picked up on my sudden irritation, and thought it was directed at him. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hurt him.” His voice was quiet, so low that human ears would have missed it.

“I know that. Like I said, accidents happen. Sometimes they happen a lot in this family.” I smiled at him “Don’t let anyone tell you different. I remember one time, a few years ago, that I had taken all three of the kids to this amusement park. I didn’t think it was a good idea, but somehow they talked me into it. It all went fine until this group of kids went by us. Emmett went absolutely berserk trying to get to them. Esme and I were holding him back, big as he is, and everyone was staring. The park officials wanted to call the cops, which wouldn’t go over too well.”

The blond was entranced by my story, leaning in and giving me his full attention. For the first time, I felt a connection spring up between us. “What did you do?”

“I pulled out the doctor card and told them that Emmett was epileptic and having a seizure. Then we managed to drag him to the car. If he had been any smaller, I think he may have tried to go out a window after them.”

“How come he tried in the first place?”

It was a good question, and one I had asked myself many times. “I don’t know. There must have been something about one of them that called to him specifically, because Edward and Rosalie barely noticed them.”

A nod. “I know how that is. Sometimes Maria would pick one human out of thousands to go after. She said it was the smell.”

Funny, that was the same thing Emmett had said, once he came back to his senses. “Odd. It’s never happened to you, Jasper?”

“No. I can’t really tell the difference in the way humans smell. It’s easier to recognize them by the way their-“Here he froze, clearly realizing he had said too much. “Nothing.”

By the way their what? I was almost certain that he couldn’t read minds, but he must have some sort of special talent. Was one of his senses stronger than usual? By the way their voices sounded? By the way they looked? By some other intangible thing? I could guess all night and never come close. Not that he would tell me if I did. If life had taught Jasper anything, it was not to reveal any secrets.

We might have stood there for hours if the sound of a door slamming hadn’t caused us both to look up. Alice and Esme were back; both of them chatting at a thousand miles an hour and calling for help with what I was sure were dozens of bags. My companion gave a pleased rumble in his chest and bounced off to greet them, barely remembering to tell me good-bye and thank you, Carlisle.

Somewhere along the line, I had gone from being “Sir” to being “Carlisle”. It wasn’t much, but at least it was a start and that was enough to give me hope.

“Jasper, knock that off. She’s going to think you’re some sort of pervert.” Alice gave her mate a sharp nudge in the ribs. She leaned closer to him and whispered. “I’m the only one you’re allowed to be perverted with.”

“Alice!” Jasper’s horror echoed my own. Much as I loved Alice (and was coming to love Jasper, with his strange but loveable ways), I did not need to hear about their sex life. Poor Jasper looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. On the up side, however, it served to pull his attention off the human girl he had been preparing to go after.

Despite almost 4 months of living with us and practicing a vegetarian lifestyle, Jasper still didn’t do well when placed with humans. He quickly became aggressive and distractible, his already exaggerated startle reflex growing even worse. In some ways, he reminded me of the way Edward had been when he was first turned. Too many voices assaulting him at once and he would become overwhelmed and flinchy. Jasper certainly behaved like a creature on some sort of sensory overload, though he would lunge where Edward would retreat.

I had to shake myself there. It wasn’t fair to compare Edward and Jasper, any more than it would be fair to compare two biological children. The two of them had completely different personalities, not to mention over a century of completely different experiences. It wasn’t any surprise that Jasper’s tolerance was much lower.

Still, he needed to learn some appropriate behavior before I could even consider enrolling him in school, so here we were, dragging him through the mall. It was obvious he was miserable, which made me feel terrible, but we both knew it needed to happen. I had tried to soften the experience by offering to take them both to the bookstore later, something I knew thrilled Jasper to no end.

Somehow, it always fell to Alice and I to take Jasper on these outings. Her because she was such a calming influence on her mate, and me because I was willing to grab him quickly if he went out of control and risk being bitten. It hadn’t come down to that yet, though I had been forced to coax him from more than one store so he could calm down. Not this week though, this week had been a good one. Whether it was due to more control on his part, or just Alice and I being able to better read his signals was a matter of some debate, but I was willing to accept any improvement.

Currently he was watching two boys, probably brothers, as they chased each other around the food court. His body was relaxed, eyes normal, so I didn’t feel like an attack was eminent. In fact, a tiny smile quirked around the corners of his mouth. It made me wonder about his previous lives. Did he have a human brother to chase like that? Or even a vampire friend. Someone to be close to. The kids disappeared and his attention wandered somewhere else.

His gaze settled on a set of teenage girls, eyes dilating slightly. There was a petite, dark haired girl among them, which seemed to be his favorite target I tensed, wanting nothing more than to try and help him, but something held me back. He knew what was expected by now, and he needed a chance to do it on his own. I watched him jerk his head to the side, shaking it and swallowing venom rapidly. Be calm Carlisle, you know how sensitive he is. Don’t get him any more upset then you need to.

He stared for a minute longer and took two steps backwards, his eyes searching for Alice’s. She jumped forward to give him a big hug, not to restrain him, but to tell him how proud she was of him. Soft purrs, too quiet for humans to hear, rumbled out of both chests.

It was something else I had noticed about both Jasper and Alice. They were by far the noisiest of my children when it came to sounds other than talking. Both purred and growled and hissed at each other and the rest of us, seemingly without thought. The others stuck mostly to human noises, because they had always lived among humans and didn’t want to draw undue attention to themselves. Jasper on the other hand, had been raised with only other vampires. To him, growling was as natural as speaking, maybe even more so. I could tell he was puzzled at times, when he had growled or postured in a way that I recognized from my earliest days as a vampire and none of his new brothers and sisters responded appropriately. There were days when I felt like the father of a toddler, constantly having to repeat “use your words, Jasper.” Alice, having learned everything about being a vampire from him, was better at responding, and the pair of them frequently had conversations that none of the rest of us understood.

If I was being honest with myself, I had to admit that I loved the sense of wildness about them. They were retaining a sense of what a vampire was supposed to be, even without the killing. It made me wonder if I wasn’t somehow disenfranchising the others, making them into creatures that weren’t vampires, but could never be humans either. Certainly, any one of them could growl, and would when upset or angry, but they didn’t understand what they were doing. None of them ever purred, at least not where I could hear it. It was a learned behavior, and I hadn’t taught them like I should have. I barely remembered how myself, having not done it since my newborn days.

Maybe I had made some mistakes with my new family. I had let my disgust at what I was overwhelm some of the good points of my life. Unfortunately, I had passed that on to Edward more strongly than the others. There were times when I wondered if it was his own self-recrimination that was preventing him from finding a mate and causing his loneliness. How could I expect him to love another vampire when he so clearly disliked himself? Would he ever be able to choose someone, when they were also the thing that he hated most? I tried to remind myself that he would, that I had found my Esme. After all, it wasn’t like he was going to have a whole lot of choices other than other vampires.

Neither Jasper nor Alice seemed to be overly concerned about such things. Jasper obviously loved what he was, though he didn’t like some of the things he had done. He enjoyed stretching the physical limits of what he was capable of, whether it was racing Edward around the forest, or wrestling with Emmett. Sometimes in the evenings he would lay on the floor with Alice, her head against his neck and they would purr at each other, both looking entirely content with who and what they were. It made me jealous of them, that they so clearly accepted what the rest of us had trouble with.

Over the past few months, I had heard these noised often enough that I could interpret their meanings fairly well. There were growls for playing, for anger, or just to prove a point. Jasper was particularly fond of punctuating is arguments with Edward with a throaty snarl, knowing it drove my oldest crazy. The purring seemed to be a comfort thing. He would purr for Alice when she had a vision or her for him when he was getting too aggressive and needed to calm down. He would also purr when he was alone and stressed, as though he wanted to comfort himself. He had become much better about letting the rest of the family touch him, but still only wanted Alice’s reassurances.

There was something else he seemed to want from me, though. Something he was waiting for right now, pale eyes locked on mine. Over the past few weeks, my approval had suddenly become very important to him. The quiet power struggle that had marked our first few months together was over, and he had accepted me as the leader of his family and his superior. My gut feeling was that he would have taken this entire thing a lot better if he had been alone. A single vampire, particularly a male, was lucky to be accepted into a new coven instead of being killed, and he knew it. But he had Alice to be concerned about, and he wouldn’t willingly submit to someone he didn’t feel would care for her at least as well as he did. It was strangely touching, that I was being trusted with the most important thing in his world.

“Good job, Jasper.” And he had done well. This was the first time he had backed off entirely under his own power, without Alice and I coaxing him verbally, if not physically to make the correct choices. He gave me a quick, nervous grin, still unsure of how to take my compliments. “Are you ready to go home?”

Something clouded in his eyes, but he nodded. It was Alice who spoke up. “I thought we were going to the bookstore.”

That was right, I had promised that. “Jasper, if I forget something like that, you need to remind me. It’s alright, I did promise that.”

He nodded, even though we both knew he wouldn’t. He might be more comfortable with now than ever, but not comfortable enough to directly contradict the leader of the group and risk injury to himself and his mate. It was one aspect of vampirism that I was glad not to have my kids learn about. So maybe I hadn’t made as many mistakes as I thought I had. I wanted all of them to feel comfortable arguing with me if they didn’t feel like I was acting in the best interests of the family. It was something that had saved us on many occasions. But now was not the time to argue about it. Not when this entire day was going so well. “Come on.”

The bookstore was attached to the mall and huge, covering more than two stories. Jasper and Alice split, each going for a different level. “One thing only, you two.” Given the chance, Jasper would look at everything and not choose anything at all, and Alice would pick a dozen books for the rest of the family and forget herself.

I briefly considered following Jasper, who had wandered off into the nonfiction section, but decided against it. The bookstore was virtually empty, and he seemed so calm that I thought I would have time to look at a few things for myself. After all, I could easily pick both of them out by their smell and the noises they made, so it wasn’t like they could slip by me. Plus, Jasper didn’t seem to have as big of a problem when he had something else to occupy his attention. It was when he was bored that he started feeling a stronger urge to hunt.

I got distracted some books in the medical section, and stopped paying attention either Alice or Jasper. In fact, I was so involved with what I was doing that I jumped when I felt a light touch on my shoulder. My surprise seemed to transfer back to Jasper, who jumped himself, eyes going wide. I nearly laughed out loud. The great and wise Carlisle Cullen had been snuck up on by a vampire in his own coven! In a human bookstore none the less!

My attention was diverted to the book in Jasper’s hands. It was a huge volume on the Civil War, complete with pictures and illustrations of the battles. It seemed an odd choice, but then I remembered the slight accent I heard on occasion. Could Jasper have possibly been alive during the war itself? Was he a vampire already, or would it be one of those dim human memories? Would he even answer if I asked? “Is that what you want?”

He shrugged, then opened the book to somewhere in the middle. The pages pictures of two important figures (were they generals? Majors? I was never very good with military terminology). Gerald Sanders and Jasper Whitlock. Jasper Whitlock. The picture was blurry and old, but it was undeniably the man standing before me. Just when I thought I would never solve the mystery of who he was and who he had been, he pulled something like this, just giving the information away. I was so shocked, by both what I had learned, and the amount of faith it had taken for him to show this to me that I couldn’t speak for a minute. Jasper waited, a slight sense of worry in his eyes.

I walked over to a pair of overstuffed chairs and sat down, reading what had been written. Jasper Whitlock, aged 23, born in Texas, one of the youngest majors of the civil war. Led his troops to victory after victory. According to the book, he was absolutely adored by his troops and they would have followed him anywhere. Major Whitlock had gone missing, and was considered to have been killed in action during a run to bring news to a superior several towns over. His body was never recovered, but he was considered highly unlikely to have deserted. He left behind a wife and young daughter.

“I wouldn’t have either. Deserted, I mean. I would have stuck with my troops, even though I knew we were going down by then.” His voice was distant. After a few minutes, in which I still couldn’t formulate my thoughts well enough to say anything, he held out his hands to take the book back. “I just wanted you to know.”

I didn’t relinquish the book. “Thank you for showing this to me. Listen, you can go pick something else for yourself, I want to keep this. You should be very proud of the man you were.”

He shrugged again. “Keep it if you want, but it isn’t correct.”

“Which part?”

“My age. I was only 20 when I died. I lied about my age to join up. Plus, I didn’t have a wife or daughter; I don’t know where that came from. I sure would have liked to have them though.”

Then he was gone, and I knew the conversation was over. It was alright for me to keep the book, and to show it to the others when I got home, but Jasper didn’t want to talk about this any more. Maybe in a few days he would say something, or a month, or maybe this would all I would ever know. That the Major Japer Whitlock who had lived and died a century and a half ago led his troops to victory and disappeared following a long battle. But it was still more than I had known 5 minutes ago. I closed the book, but kept it in my lap as I sat there. Jasper was trying. In his own way, he wanted to be close to me, to let me in on his secrets, he was just still a little bit afraid. It might not have seemed like much to my other kids, who had always shared everything with me, but it was huge for Jasper. For the first time, he had voluntarily given me information about himself without being asked first or needing to be cajoled. We were getting there. Slowly but surely, we were getting there.

Then suddenly the spring and summer were over and it was time start thinking about school. Alice had done a wonderful job of catching up since January, and I was prepared to enroll her as a junior. I would have preferred to try and pass her off as a sophomore, which was closer to her actual abilities, but I knew it would be too difficult. She was petite enough to pass, but her eyes betrayed her as being far older than 15. Not for the first time, I wondered what had happened to her, even before her abandonment by her maker. Edward would be a junior this year too, and he was more than willing to help her. He had bonded with her in a way that he and Rosalie had never quite managed.

I was still on the fence about Jasper. On the one hand, he was doing very well, and he was so eager to learn that I felt bad keeping him home. On the other, I just didn’t know if I quite trusted him yet. The worst of his aggression seemed to have dissipated, but he was still standoffish with new people and skittish when he felt cornered. I just didn’t know if throwing him into a high school, where he was going to be the center of attention for a thousand students or more, was the best thing for him right now. I hadn’t really broached the subject with him yet, though I could tell he wasn’t unaware of the issue. He could hear the rest of the kids talking about it and complaining.

But there was still three weeks to make that decision. Right now, the entire family was out at the park. It was Rosalie’s birthday, and even though she didn’t want an official celebration with gifts, we all agreed to do whatever she wanted for the day. It was cloudy, and she was determined to take advantage of it and get us all outside. She, Esme and Alice were sitting together on a blanket, laughing over some joke. Emmett and Jasper had been playing Frisbee, but were now just wandering aimlessly, never straying too far. I had taken Edward to play catch, but my attention was split between him and the rest of them. We looked like a family. Granted, a family with an inordinate amount of teenagers, but a family none the less. Alice was smiling at Esme as if my wife was the one who had given birth to her. Jasper and Emmett bounced around, playing some game I didn’t understand. When Jasper arrived 10 months ago, I would have never expected to see him like this. He was relaxed, grinning at Emmett as he prepared to move again. He looked genuinely happy, and I could feel his pleasure washing over me.

The day was a bit chilly by human standards, and the park was virtually deserted. Because of that, I wasn’t expecting company and didn’t see the mother with a stroller until she was almost on top of us. I reflexively looked to Jasper, but he wasn’t paying any attention to them. Instead, he was focused on Esme.

I turned to her, knowing what I would see before I moved. Her heart would be breaking at the sight of that baby, her thoughts only on her own lost son. None of the other kids seemed to notice, they were all caught up in whatever it was they were doing. Only Jasper was watching her. Then, in an extremely rare gesture of affection, he knelt down next to her on the blanket and put his arms around her. It was the first time I had seen him do such a thing and it shocked me. Esme appeared shocked also, but hugged him back, her expression turning to one of love for her new son.

But I was no longer focused on them. Something had become very clear to me, something that I should have seen months ago. It was the little things about Jasper that had begun to finally add up. The way he reacted to other people, almost like he could read their minds. The way he had known Esme was upset, before any of the others had, even though they had been with her for far longer. Or the way he responded to each member of the family differently, always seeming to know exactly how to act without any visual clues. He wasn’t reading their minds, he was reading their emotions. Fucking Hell, I had found an empath.

I was so busy staring at Jasper and having this revelation that I failed to pay attention to Edward, who promptly nailed me in the head with the baseball. The force of his throw knocked me to the ground and I lay there for a minute, head reeling from both the blow and the thought that had preceded it. I had been so blind. I thought back to the way he had been with the other boys from the beginning. Emmett had accepted him instantly, wanting a partner to hunt and play with and Jasper had responded in kind, showing back the playful feelings and wildness. Edward had been nervous, unable to read him, and Jasper had respected that by giving him his space. I shouldn’t have needed to have it all spelled out to me like that.

“Carlisle? Honey, are you alright?” They were all above me now, staring down with worried eyes. A hit like that shouldn’t have kept me on the ground for more than a few seconds.

“Yes.” I took Emmett’s offered hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet. “I guess I just got lost in my thoughts.” I wanted nothing more than to speak to Jasper and be able to confirm my suspicions, but I knew he wouldn’t allow me to ask in front of the others. I had been patient for nearly a year now, I could be patient for a few more hours.

It was hard to keep a straight face for the rest of the day. My thoughts were a confused jumble, and I had to try and keep them down low enough that Edward wouldn’t pick up on them. He and Jasper had quite a rivalry going by this point, and he would have delighted in having this forbidden knowledge and the edge it would give him. Jasper himself looked at me quite frequently, so I must be putting off some odd emotions. I tried to send him a wave of reassurance, as a bit of a test, but he only gave me a stranger look.

We stayed at the park for another hour or so, until Rosalie decided we could go home. After all, Emmett had gotten her a special present, and she was eager to get to it. The way both Jasper and Edward visibly shuddered at her words told me exactly what sort of present it was and that none of the rest of us were going to get any peace. Had I been thinking, I would have had their room soundproofed for a gift. A gift for the rest of us, that was.

I could tell the rest of the family was getting ready to scatter, so as not to have to hear what was about to start upstairs. I had to act quickly, as this was a perfect chance. “Jasper, will you please come to my office?”

He was only too glad to do so; probably assuming we were going to be having that talk about whether or not he would be starting school with the others. I waited while he spun in a contented circle and flopped down in the big chair, eyebrows raised.

It hurt that I was about to do something that might destroy the peace that had sprung up between us. I stopped for a minute, trying to figure out the best way to present this. If I was wrong…

Luckily, Jasper saved me. “So, you know about me, huh?”

So that was what the funny looks had been about. I must have been putting off some feeling that clued him in to my revelation. “I think so. Do you have the gift of empathy?”

“Yes.” For all of the evasion he had given me on other subjects, he was straightforward with this. “But there are other things. I can kind off…not exactly force emotions, but kind of make someone feel what I want them to.”

If there had been a feather in the room, I could have been knocked over with it. Empaths were fairly rare, especially since most of them went mad as newborns, but manipulators were almost unheard of. One of the rarest creatures in existence had been living right under my nose for almost a year and it had never even occurred to me. “How do you mean?”

He sighed, twisting his hands as he tried to organize his thoughts. “Well…If you were calm, I could make you get excited, or if you were excited, I could calm you down. That would be pretty easy. But if you genuinely have one strong emotion, it would be hard for me to change it. For example, I couldn’t change the love you feel for Esme. I can’t destroy that emotion. But I could shift it. Once I got a hold of that emotion from you, and memorized it, I could make you feel like you wanted someone to have sex with else.” He grinned, a goofy smile that suggested he was reliving a fond memory. “Even someone like me or Emmett. But it would still be hard.”

Here he rolled his shoulders, clearly wanting me to understand. “Some emotions are easier than others, because some are more common. Your fear is very similar to my fear or Edward’s fear. So I could make a stranger feel very frightened, because there isn’t anything special about that emotion. Excitement is the same, just a form of arousal. But love, that’s different. Alice is my bond mate, and Esme is your bond mate, but the love we have for them is different. So it would be hard for me to manipulate you emotions there, because they are very different from my own. I could make you think you were sexually attracted to anyone, but not be in love with them”

It made sense. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

He looked uncomfortable. “When we first got here, I didn’t trust you, you know that. Alice did, because she had seen it all, but I couldn’t. I was responsible for both of us, and I didn’t want to give everything away. Especially since Alice messed up and told you about her visions right away. I had to hold something back.”

I suspected as much. “But why didn’t you tell me later? You trust us now don’t you?” Didn’t he? Or had he just become a very good actor?

“Yes! I do trust you now. I’ve trusted you since what happened when I bit Emmett. You were patient and gentle and I knew you would take good care of both of us after that. But….” He stopped, eyes downward. “Well, I thought you would be mad if you thought I was hiding things from you. Then it just went on and on and I couldn’t figure out how to tell you. Plus…” He stopped again, sighing softly. “Once I tell someone that, it messes things up. They always look at me like I’m some sort of mind controller, and they think I can do things that I can’t. They don’t trust me after that, and I wanted you to trust me. And you did, even when I was having so much trouble keeping calm around the humans. I’ve never had one of my superiors trust me before, and I liked it.”

My heart broke a little for him. He had been trying so hard to hang on to the only real family he had ever known. I came around the desk to lightly touch his shoulder. I didn’t try and hold him, even though I wanted to, because he still didn’t take well to being restrained, but my touch was enough to get him to continue. “I kept thinking, ‘I’ll tell him tomorrow, I’ll tell him soon’ but of course I never did. Then it went on for so long that I almost couldn’t. But I saw the way you were looking at me today, like you had never seen me before, and I knew that you knew. Especially when you almost knocked me over trying to tell me to calm down a little.”

I couldn’t help it then, I laughed. “I wondered why you were looking at me like that.

He laughed back, dark eyes sparkling. “Yeah, a little bit of feeling goes a long way. You don’t need to focus that hard, I can pick it up pretty easily now.”

Another thought occurred to me. “Have you used this manipulation thing on us? On me?”

“Well…” He squirmed uncomfortably. “Not very often. I mean, just when I had to.”

I clamped down hard on my irritation, knowing that he was afraid I would react that way. “When?”

He thought. “I’m not sure. Sometimes when you guys fight, it makes me really nervous and I try to calm everyone down. I hate to see people fight, it usually turns violent. I didn’t want that. Umm...sometimes I do it when I don’t mean to. Like if I’m really happy and in a good mood, I make other people happy too. Same with being in a really bad mood, but I can usually control it better than that.”

Now that I thought about it, I could see the truth in his words. We had been fighting less recently, even Edward and Rosalie. Before I could say anything though, Jasper remembered something else. “Oh, I know a good example. Remember when I first got here, and I bit Emmett?” At my nod, he continued. “When you and Rose got there, you were both ready to attack me, and I couldn’t let that happen. Especially since there was still a lot of venom in the injury. So I kept both of you calm until we could get back to the house. It didn’t matter what happened then. I wouldn’t do anything just to do it, I promise. That would be rude of me”

I remembered that day, and thought I could pinpoint the minute he had unleashed his power on us, the way all of my tension had suddenly disappeared. It had seemed a little odd at the time, but everything that followed had been surreal also, so I hadn’t paid much attention to what was, after all, just a feeling.

Jasper twisted around in the chair, clearly wanting to be anywhere but here. He didn’t say anything else, probably waiting for me to ask something else. But I couldn’t think of anything. Finally, he spoke, more to break the silence than anything else. He wasn’t as comfortable holding out on my as he had been in the past. “You can tell the others if you want. It’s not fair to have some people know and others not.”

For a creature that had essentially been raised feral, Jasper had a surprising sense of fairness, and of right and wrong. I wondered who had taught him that, if it was his human parents, or another vampire. Somebody had clearly loved him a lot, or he wouldn’t be as sweet natured as he was. Certainly, he had his quirks and moods, but underneath it all was a good personality.

There was a growing sense of nervousness in the room. I had felt it before, but now knew that I could attribute it to Jasper, and the fact that he was worried about how I was taking all this. My opinion was important to him, and he wanted desperately to please me. I smiled reassuringly and the tension level dropped.

“Umm… can I go now? I promised Alice I would take her hunting tonight.”

“Yes.” He all but fled the room. Despite months of work, he still had to get outside and be free when he was feeling stressed out. Even the airy open plan of our house left him feeling claustrophobic. At least I had convinced him to go out the doors, instead of going through a window or leaving a hole in the nearest wall. I sat down heavily behind my desk, trying to process everything. An empath. What in the world was I supposed to do with an empath? They were notoriously unstable and hard to handle.

Still, it explained a lot, not just about his reactions to my family, but the reason he had come to be alone in the first place. One of the reasons most empath's became emotionally unstable was that they were forced to feel the pain and terror their victims did. It drove some of them crazy. Others refused to feed, and were driven mad by the hunger. Still others managed to block the humans, but were mentally pulled apart by the emotions of other vampires in their coven. It was rare to find an empath that was able to make it past the newborn years. Jaspers gift at manipulation had probably helped him there, by keeping him mostly mentally intact.

This was one of those times when I wished I was on better terms with other vampires. I wanted the advice of someone more knowledgeable then myself on how to handle this new situation. Jasper seemed to be doing fairly well on his own, but like most mental gifts, his talents should be nurtured by another empath, and I had no idea where to find one. A sudden grin nearly split my face in two. Well, I could say one thing about Jasper. Since he had arrived, life certainly wasn’t boring.

“Come on, Jasper! Just a little higher and you have it.”

I heard a faint grumble, almost a growl, from the other room. Esme had decided to start putting up Christmas decorations, and had commandeered Jasper to help her. They had been at it all day, moving different pieces all over the living room and I could tell his patience was wearing thin.

After much debate, I had decided not to enroll Jasper in school just yet. I was incredibly pleased with his progress, but I still didn’t trust him entirely on his own. He had been disappointed, but more than a little relieved. I had contacted the school board about getting home schooling materials for him, wanting to keep him interested and learning. It had taken a little bit of creativity, but I was finally able to explain that he was a foster child who just wasn’t ready for public school yet. Too many past traumas and all that. Not too far from the truth, really.

Emmett had been immediately jealous, wanting to stay home all day himself, but I had sent him anyway. Much as I wanted Jasper to have a companion and not be home alone during the day, I had seen the way the two of them interacted. The house would be in shambles after a week, and they would have terrorized the deer into having collective heart failure.

For some reason, they had taken to herding the deer through our woods, splitting up and chasing the poor creatures across the back yard, around the house, and back to the woods. They never killed them, so they weren’t motivated by hunger. It seemed to be a game to them, a way of testing their communicative skills when they couldn’t be side by side. It took my nonexistent breath away to watch them sometimes, the natural way they moved together without words. I had made them stop the game for a while, after a frenzied deer crashed through one of our picture windows, but I knew they would be back at it as soon as I left for work. Sometimes they can be worse than little children.

Jasper had sulked for a day or two when I broke the news, especially since everyone else was getting new supplies and making plans, but he got over it quickly. In a way, I think he liked the quiet in the house when everyone else was gone. Plus, he had Esme, and this was a perfect opportunity for them to get some much needed bonding time.

There had been something in the air over the past few weeks, a sense of change in Jasper. He was spending more time inside with the family instead of vanishing into the woods to be alone. He talked more, and seemed to be making a concentrated effort to get along better with Edward. That was the good part.

But there were other things. He had become more jumpy, startling at small noises that he had never noticed before. His eyes had taken on a shadowy look, like he was worrying about something. Sometime he seemed to shut down entirely, looking at all of us blankly, as if we were strangers and he had no idea how he had come to live among us. His schoolwork could be picture perfect one day, and nonexistent the next. He had always been a bit moody, but now the swings were extreme. He had even snapped at Alice a few days back, something I had never seen before.

All in all, I was getting a sense of a storm brewing. I supposed it was inevitable. He had given up leadership to me months ago, and now he was worrying about it. I knew he had suffered badly in the past, all one had to do was look at his scars to know that. We still hadn’t talked about where he had come from, though I thought that might be part of what was happening now. He wanted badly to trust us, but he was still afraid to do so completely. He was at war with himself, and much as it hurt me to watch him struggle, there was nothing I could do to help.

I could tell he was getting close, though. All this week he had been extremely clingy to Esme or myself, always wanting to be close to one of us. Sometimes he would even sit at home with us rather than go hunting with Emmett. I had been through this with Rosalie also, so I could recognize some of the signs. Unlike Edward or Emmett, both of whom had moved from loving human families to a loving vampire one, she had suffered horribly before her change, and continued to suffer afterwards. It was not as easy for her to accept us, or tell us about what had happened to her. I had known what her injuries were when I changed her, but even knowing that hadn’t prepared me for the brutality she had suffered at the hands of a man she had thought she loved. It was only after she had been with us for a few months that she was able to tell Esme about Royce and his betrayal. She too had developed a seemingly split personality, biddable and fun sometimes, but just as quickly turning cold and temperamental.

I decided to move in and help the poor boy out a little. “What’s going on in there?”

Jasper bounded through the archway, a grimace of mock-terror on his face. “Help, Carlisle! She’s never going to be satisfied!”

He was wearing sunglasses in the house, something that never failed to make me smile. Whatever the reason, he was crazy about them, and must have had 10 pairs by now. He was so quiet when it came to asking for anything that when we did find something he liked, the entire family went overboard to make sure he had it. The current pair was mirrored, doing an excellent job of hiding his eyes. Still, I was pretty sure they were grinning at me.

“Esme, let him have a break. You’ve been at it since dawn.” She did tend to get a little obsessed about decoration placement. I had once watched her arrange and rearrange them for 36 hours straight. Somehow, I doubted that Jasper was going to put up with that.

My wife appeared, and her loveliness took my nonexistent breath away. The previous nights hunt had brought a slight flush to her face, and it was all I could do not to jump her right there. “Esme…”

“I’m leaving.” Jasper couldn’t seem to get himself out of the situation fast enough. Oops, I must have given him a little taste of my lust for her. “I’ll be back when everyone else gets home.” And after I’m sure you guys are done with whatever terrible thing you are getting ready to do.

He disappeared in the direction of the woods, no doubt planning on being at least several miles away with in minutes. Esme watched him go, before turning to me. “That’s new.”

“What?”

“Him caring what we’re doing. He never used to be offended by that, remember?”

Suddenly, I did remember. When he had first arrived, Jasper had seemed oblivious to what was going around him sexually. Rosalie and Emmett could be getting ready to scream (or knock) down the walls and he would barely glance up before going back to whatever he was doing before. Unusual in any vampire, but flat out bizarre in an empath. He could also be shockingly immodest. I was willing to bet that every other member of the family had seen what was rightfully Alice’s. He didn’t give the impression of sexual ignorance, and could in fact be quite loud with Alice on occasion, but nor did he seem to see anything odd about knowing exactly what others were doing.

I had finally come to the conclusion that things like this must have been normal in his other family. It made a certain amount of sense. After all, most covens were quite large, especially in the south, and there must not have been much room for privacy of any sort. So you did what you did and pretended that no one else was around. But now he was responding in a more normal manner and granting us some privacy. It really was better for all of us, but I couldn’t help feeling a little bit sad about it. Like I was taking a little bit of his innocence away. Which was ridiculous because, after all, Jasper was probably the least innocent among us.

Esme smiled at me. “Well, he’s gone for whatever reason. We should take advantage of all the kids being gone.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Needless to say, the Christmas ornaments were forgotten for the night. By the time we were finished and straightened up, the sun had set and the rest of the family was hiding out. Vampire or human, no one likes to have to be able to hear their parents having sex. One by one they reemerged, giving us somewhat reproachful looks. Alice was the only one who spoke. “Gross.”

Esme couldn’t let that pass. “You should hear yourself with Jasper sometimes, dear. You two can be rather loud.”

“Amen.” That was Edward.

Alice wasn’t fazed in the slightest. “You could always tell us to be quiet, if it bothers you. Anyway, he’s the one who gets loud. You would be amazed at the noises he can make when I-“

“Alice.” Jasper’s voice was low but amused. He smirked at bit at Edward, who no doubt had heard the rest of Alice’s thoughts and knew exactly what she had been referring to. I wondered if Jasper had somehow put Alice up to this in yet another small battle in his and Edward’s war.

I was suddenly glad that I didn’t have Edwards gift. “What are the plans for tonight? Are we hunting?”

Rosalie rolled her eyes. “The rest of us have already been hunting. We’ve had plenty of time to kill tonight. I’m taking Alice shopping; we’ll be back sometime tonight. Esme, why don’t you come with us? Edward and Emmett are going to patrol the wolf’s boundary line. Carlisle, I need some money.”

No, she didn’t. I knew Rose well enough by now to know that she wanted something else, something she wasn’t comfortable saying in front of the rest of the family. “My wallet is upstairs.”

We walked together in silence until she felt like she was far enough away from the rest of the family. Then she turned to me and whispered softly. “I have enough money in my purse. Listen, I moved everyone out but you and Jasper. He wants to be able to talk to you, but he’s afraid. So be patient with him. He’s ready to tell you about it all; everything that’s happened to him, but it could take a while. I’ll hold Alice and Esme at the store for a few hours, and Emmett is going to keep Edward distracted. Just listen, Carlisle, and don’t judge him. He’s had a bad enough time already.”

I felt a sudden tug of love for her. She had been there for Jasper when he would trust none of the rest of us with his secrets. It hardly fit with the cold, shallow front that she presented to the world. I was glad that Jasper had been able to see beyond that and share his worries with her. “Don’t worry, Rosalie. His secrets will be safe with me.”

She smiled, the sort of smile that made men fall all over themselves for just a chance to speak to her. Then her dark eyes hardened. “Carlisle? If you upset my brother, I’ll kill you, got it?”

I had to smile at her protectiveness. Despite the trouble it caused sometimes with Edward, Jasper and Alice were the best thing to happen to this family in…well, since Emmett had joined us. “I won’t, Rose.”

The perfect lips quirked up into a smile and she gave me a hug. “I’ll keep them away as long as I can.”

With that she flipped her hair and marched off down the hallway, the very picture of a supermodel. A supermodel that was showing me the softer side she tried so desperately to keep hidden. Her and Jasper, who would have thought?

I came back downstairs, to find Alice hugging her mate tightly. “You’re sure you don’t want to come?”

He smiled at her, golden eyes shining with love. “No, you have fun with the girls. I’ll be just fine here with Carlisle.” His expression saying that if she pushed the matter he would go. He would go to the ends of the earth and beyond to see her happy.

“Ok, I guess. I know, I’ll pick you up a surprise!” Her momentarily clouded expression became animated again. Alice loved to shop, even more so if she could share the trip with Rosalie, but she hated having to be separated from Jasper, even for a few hours.

“Go on, Rosalie’s getting ready to leave without you.” He grumbled low in his chest and gave her a gentle nudge forward. “You know I don’t shop well.”

She looked between Jasper and myself, a realization dawning in her lovely eyes. She stepped forward to give him another hug, lingering longer than necessary and whispering something in his ear. Rosalie honked the horn impatiently, and our sweet little Alice responded with a finger gesture that I never would have believed she knew. One last look and the girls were gone, leaving Jasper and I standing in an awkward silence. He shuffled from side to side, studying the carpet with way too much interest.

I gave him a few more minutes, then took pity on him. “Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“No, but I think I need to.” He spun in a slow circle, something I noticed him doing more and more lately. It had to be stress. “Can we go outside?”

“Sure.” He clung close to my side as we walked out back to sit on the porch swing. I knew he would get too nervous in the house, but I wanted him next to me, close enough so he could draw comfort from my presence.

We sat down in silence. Jasper pushed us back and forth in the swing, long legs extended out in front of him as he studied the wood line. My stomach clenched with tension, which had to be a left over emotion coming off of him. I gave him an encouraging smile. “Just start at the beginning, Jasper. We can take as long as you need.”

He stared at the ground, seeming to gather himself. I waited. After all, how bad could it be?

Almost three hours later, I had my answer. It was every bit as bad as I could have imagined, and worse. Jasper talked calmly and steadily, never once taking his eyes off of his beat up boots. He ran his fingers back and forth on his leg, his slow, almost hypnotized movements suggesting that he had long since forgotten he was doing it. I stroked his shoulder experimentally, and he surprised me by leaning into the contact.
”Anyway, I guess that’s the story. Now you know everything about me.”

I did and I didn’t. I had heard stories of pain and terror, of being locked up for weeks to ensure that starvation would make him especially vicious, of bonding with the newborns and having to experience their feelings of betrayal and terror when it was time to destroy them. Of fight after fight after fight, the burning of someone else’s venom becoming a near constant sensation to him. Of losing everything, including himself, Jasper Whitlock.

He pulled up the sleeves of his shirt to show me more of the scars there. “I could tell you about them, name each of them. Patrick, Sunny, Devon, Mary, Sean, Maria, it could go on and on. But that wouldn’t serve any purpose, would it? Suffice to say, I remember all of it, everything that happened in that life.”

But there were other stories too. No existence is entirely bad, and there were obviously parts of his old life that he missed terribly. He gave those funny half smiles when he talked about them running like a pack, hunting and resting and playing all together. Or how they would run the empty villages, setting up families among themselves in a glorious game of pretend that could last for weeks. Or just lying around the fire, contented to be together. He had loved the constant movement, never staying in one place for more than a month or two before setting out for a new home. And then there was Maria.

I got the impression that Jasper was somewhat conflicted about the Spanish beauty and everything that had followed her coaxing him off the road one dark night. On the one hand, he hated her. He hated everything she had done to him, and everything she had forced him to do to others. Without her, he would have gone on, to deliver his message, or marry or die in the next battle, whatever fate had in store for him. It was easier to hate her, than to hate that part of himself.

But he loved her also. She was his maker, the mother figure. He had been dependant on her to provide everything for him, a fact that she never let him forget. She had been his lover also, for more than a half century. Though he had not been with her alone (switching partners seemed to have been a common occurrence in his previous family), she was the only one he had loved. He had loved her, and he had hated her, and he had bled for her, the blood given to him by her. No wonder he felt confused and out of control for most of his time with her.

My gut told me that Maria had probably loved him back. However, she had placed him in what was, by default, as highly stressful and emotionally charged life. He had lasted there far longer than he should have, and I was willing to be that she had been the reason for that. Her love, like Alice’s, went a long way towards soothing the emotional wounds. For a minute I felt pity for Maria. To watch someone one loved deteriorate before your eyes, and to neither understand it or be able to stop it must have been heartbreaking.

But he wasn’t thinking of any of that now. He leaned his head back against the swing and stared up at the sloping roof of the front porch. When he spoke again, I was surprised. “I miss them.”

“Your other family?” Now that he was trying to open up to me, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by.

“Sometimes. I think I would miss it more if it wasn’t for my gift. It was hard being around all of them and trying to keep them under control. I miss Peter and Charlotte a lot though. I wish I knew where they were now.”

“I do too.” I hoped he was caught up enough in his story that he wouldn’t sense the little white lie. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Jasper to be able to speak to his friends again, but I worried about him letting them know where he was. If they were still in contact with Maria…well, as his maker, she would have a certain sway over Jasper. Or maybe she wasn’t needed at all. Maybe seeing his old friends would remind Jasper of a lifestyle he missed and he would go with them willingly. Selfish that it might be, I wanted him to stay here with us. After his being here for more than a year, I could barely imagine life without him.

“I wouldn’t.” Jasper was watching me with an amused look on his face. “Leave, I mean. This is my home now, and Alice’s. If I had wanted that life, I would have stayed with them in the first place. “

I guess I wasn’t as subtle as I thought I was. I had to remember that Jasper was old, much older than the rest of the family, and he had had more than a century to hone his gift. In his own way, he read thoughts and intentions better than Edward. He touched his shoulder to mine briefly. “I like it here. I couldn’t go anywhere without Alice, and she would never leave you guys. I love my new brothers and sisters, and you and Esme have been really patient. So better or worse, you guys are stuck with me for eternity. Like the wedding vows from Hell.”

Just like that, he had said the perfect thing. He loved us to the best of his ability. Maybe he would never be as open and trusting as Alice, even within the family, but he didn’t need to be. All he needed to be was Jasper, his strange, sometimes aggressive, but wonderful self. A soft rumble filled the air as he purred contentedly. After a minute, I was shocked to feel the answering vibrations in my own chest. Seemed our wild one was teaching us all a few new tricks.

We sat there nearly an hour, a two vampire chorus. Then the roar of Rosalie’s car filled the air, bringing the women we loved home. Almost simultaneously, Edward and Emmett burst out of the woods, excited and from running the boundary line for hundreds of miles. The quiet disappeared as if had never been there. Japer exploded off the swing to run in wild circles around Emmett, boxing with him playfully and getting his scent. Then the three of them were off, ready to meet the girls in the driveway and carry in their bags.

I sat for a minute longer, thinking about the past year, and all that had happened. Somehow our coven, which I had thought complete at five, had expanded to seven. Maybe in the coming years it would expand again, hopefully with a mate for Edward. As if my thoughts had summoned him, his face appeared around the side of the house, eyes bright with laughter. “Carlisle, are you coming? They bought half the store and we need help getting it all in!”

“Yes, I’m coming!” I just wanted one more minute to sit here, listening to their laughter. Jasper was laughing at Emmett, teasing that the larger vampire ought to be able to carry twice as much since he was twice Jaspers size. Rosalie was calling to them to be careful, that she, Alice and Esme were going to model for us later. The thought of Esme in new clothes was enough to get me off the swing, and walking around the house. But that wasn’t the only reason. I was just as interested in just being around them and loving them. Finally, things were falling into place.

The joy lasted only six months. Quite a while for a human, but less than a blink for a vampire. But it wasn’t Jasper that caused the trouble. No, it was one of my older kids, one I never would have suspected.

It happened on a Thursday. Emmett and Edward were out hunting, Rosalie was out shopping for Alice’s birthday in a few weeks, and the rest of us were in the living room. Alice and I were playing a game of chess, while Esme watched television and Jasper roamed in restless circles. He was set to play the winner of this game, and was probably already forming plans in the back of his mind. He thought better when he was moving, so I kept his form in the corner of my eye.

Alice was contemplating her move, knowing she was beaten, but refusing to give in without a fight. Not wanting to stare at her and make her nervous, I looked the other way instead, towards Jasper, and found him standing silently by Edward's piano, his fingers running quietly over the keys. It surprised me, as I had never considered that he might have musical talent. “Do you play, Jasper?”

He looked at me quietly, eyes foggy with distant memories. “Not very well.”

“Play something anyway. Come on.” I tried to sound encouraging, but not too forceful. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to.

“No. The piano is Edward’s, not mine. I shouldn’t fool around with it without asking him first.”

Despite the fact that Edward and Jasper had never really bonded and seemed to enjoy tormenting each other on occasion, they did respect each other, and observe certain boundaries. Not touching the piano seemed to be one of those unspoken rules between them. I didn’t want to disturb their fragile peace. “Alright then, maybe later.”

There was no way for any of us to know that that it would be a long time before any of us saw the piano, or this house again. But we were ignorant, and Alice piped up before the silence could become awkward. “He plays the guitar!”

“Really?” I had no real musical talent myself, but was glad to nurture it in my kids.

If he could have blushed, I’m sure Jasper would have been bright red. He looked down at his hands, still on the keys and muttered. “Yeah, but I haven’t played in years. Kind of hard to keep up with an instrument when you’re moving so much.”

“You should have told me you enjoyed playing. We would have found something for you.”

He opened his mouth to reply, probably to tell me that it wasn’t necessary, but he never got the chance. Edward came blasting through the doors, dragging Emmett behind him and bellowing at the top of his lungs. His panicked eyes met mine. “We have a huge problem.”

I didn’t need to ask what the problem was. Emmett’s eyes, nearly as terrified as Edward’s, were glowing a bright red. Fuck. This was bad. “What happened?”

Edward spun wildly. “I don’t know! I only had my back turned for a minute, and then this guy was just there and Emmett had him drained before I could do anything.”

Esme was on her feet in an instant, getting ready to put the Cullen’s emergency plan into effect. I grabbed the phone to call in my resignation, barely pausing to give Emmett’s shoulder a reassuring pat. “It’s alright, son, It’ll be alright.”

He didn’t respond to me, too caught up in his own misery, but I didn’t have any extra time to comfort him. We had to be gone by tomorrow. So I let him press himself into the corner, eyes blank and terrified. It had been decades since one of the family slipped up like this. Alice ran for the stairs, her gift allowing her to know exactly what to do, even though she had never been told. Jasper, having no idea what was going on or what he could do to help, crept towards Emmett and the corner he was in. Like a large cat, he lowered himself slightly, trying to look as small as possible. Emmett growled warningly and snapped when Jasper continued forward. The blond jumped a foot or so backwards, out of his brother’s range and stared.

My mind had split, torn between telling the woman on the phone about my nonexistent sister’s tragic death, and her three small, orphaned children, and what was taking place on my living room floor. Again Jasper came forward, and again Emmett forced him back. And again, and again. Jasper didn’t seem frustrated, or really to react at all. His eyes were fixed on some Emmett’s, and he would not be dissuaded.

“Thank you, Doctor. I’m terribly sorry for this, but I have to be there for my family. Yes, I do hope to return eventually, but I’m not sure when. No, I think its better this way. I’ve always thought highly of both you and the institution.” Finally, I got him off the phone, and was able to turn my attention to the other things that needed to be done.

I was about to tell Jasper to leave Emmett alone and help me, but I thought better of it. My son seemed to know what he was doing, and I didn’t want to make matters worse. Jasper tried again, and was again rebuffed. He stiffened slightly, and growled at Emmett, eyes intense. He continued to growl as he slunk forward, and this time, Emmett let him come. Jasper sat back against the wall, looking very small against his brother. They had turned so their faces were almost touching, and stopped, seeming to breathe in each other’s scents. That worried me a little, as I didn’t want Jasper to get the scent of human blood off Emmett and go wild himself. The last thing I needed was to have two of the seven family members down.

Though I was sure he was aware of it, Jasper didn’t react to the smell at all. Instead he pressed his forehead to Emmett’s and murmured, so softly not even my vampire ears could pick it up. Emmett nodded back, not speaking himself. Jasper purred at him, then made a soft noise, almost a hum before standing up and offering his hand. Emmett took it and the two of them faced me. “What do we do?”

For a minute, I couldn’t tell one’s voice from the other, and it threw me. But there would be time later to worry about that. “Emmett, you and Jasper get packed up, just the most important things. We need to be ready to go by the time Rose gets home.”

Not for the first time, I wished I had some way of getting in contact with my children instantly. Telephones were wonderful things, but I had no clue where she might be right now, so calling a store was out. If only someone would create a telephone that could fit in one’s pocket. Then, in an emergency like this, I could have called Rosalie immediately.

By the time I had everything sorted out with the house, the cars were packed and we were waiting in a tense silence. Edward spoke first. “Where are we going?”

Good question. “Well, I thought I would give you guys a choice. We could go back up to Alaska, or down to Charlotte.”

“We’re going to Alaska.” Alice’s voice was dreamy and soft. “I know, I can see it. We’ll stay there for years, but then we’ll move down to…Forks is it? Yes, Forks. It’s very important that we go there.”

“Why’s that, freak?” Edward’s eyebrow was raised. “Do you even know where Forks is?”

She smiled evilly. “Don’t you wish you knew? And no, I don’t know where Forks is, but it’s where she’s going to be, so it’s where we’ll be. But not yet. Not for a long time.”

“Who’s ‘she’?” Esme took the words right out of my mouth.

Alice giggled. “You’ll find out. Especially Edward.”

I stepped in before it could turn into a fight. “Fine, Alice says Alaska. Does anyone have an objection to that?”

Heads shook all around. Edward’s curiosity was piqued, and he wouldn’t do anything to disturb the future she had seen. Jasper was willing to do anything as long as it made Alice happy, so he was on board. Not to mention Charlotte was a little too close to his old hunting grounds. Esme and I were willing to go to either place, and Emmett was in no condition to offer an opinion. Rosalie disliked the cold, and would have voted for Charlotte given the chance, but she wasn’t here now and had thus forfeited her vote.

“Alaska it is, then.”

We fell into a sort of strange silence then, none of us sure what to say to try and make things better for Emmett. I could almost see the waves of calm and reassurance that Jasper was sending to him. They seemed to work better then anything we could have said so I let it go. It seemed to be an almost unconscious thing, as much to soothe himself and the rest of us as to soothe Emmett.

It was a little over an hour later that Rosalie came home. Whether she had a sixth sense of her own, or saw Emmett’s eyes before we could say anything, she nodded once and wrapped her arms around her husband. “Let’s go.” She didn’t ask what had happened, or how it had happened. To her, the fact that it had happened was enough.

We split into two cars, with Esme, Edward and Alice in one and Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and I in the other. Jasper sat shotgun, very stiff and silent. He was still sending waves of calm, but they were weaker now, like he was getting tired. A quick glance confirmed that he was still, with his head back against the seat and his eyes half closed. I got the impression that he would keep going until he was past the point of exhaustion, just to keep the situation calm and under control. I touched his shoulder, causing him to startle. “It’s alright now Jasper. You can rest.”

He nodded vaguely and let his eyes close all the way. Had he been human, he would have been on the verge of sleep. As a vampire, he was just trying to block enough out that he could rest and regain a little strength.

“Thanks, brother.” They were the first words I had heard Emmett speak since it happened.

Jaspers eyes flickered open, much darker then they had been before. He gave Emmett a soft smile and a quick thumbs-up. “Welcome.”

The pair of us were quiet again, while Rose and Emmett talked among themselves. Abruptly my daughter broke the silence. “Are we going to school in Alaska?”

It was such an odd question that for a minute I couldn’t answer. What was she up to? “Yes, but it’s only June.” She had to know what month it was.

“Jasper too?”

I confirmed it. “Jasper too.” Even when he had scented the human blood on Emmett, he had remained calm and focused on what he needed to do. He could be trusted, I knew that now.

She was quiet for another minute or so before whispering “Jasper?”

“Hmmm?” His eyes were closed again, and he seemed to be only half-listening to the conversation.

“Do you want to be my brother?”

That got his attention. “I’m already your brother.”

She gave a soft huff. “No, I mean my real brother. We could be twins this time.”

Her attention turned to me. “It will look less suspicious to the humans. If we have five different teenagers in one family, that’s too many. It looked strange enough with three. But if you claim Jasper and I are twins, then it won’t look so bad. You can’t make any of the mated pairs be real siblings, and Jasper and I look nothing like Edward. I guess you could make Alice and Edward real siblings too, if you wanted. What do you think, Jasper?”

I wondered if Jasper was capable of understanding the enormous gift he was being offered. Despite us loving her, and her loving us, Rosalie was still very aloof, never showing any interest in taking the name Cullen. Even before Emmett, she had insisted on hanging on to her own last name. It was hers, the last little bit of a human life she dearly missed. Now she was offering to share it with Jasper.

It seemed that Jasper understood just fine, because when he smiled at her, it was like seeing the sun. “I would love to be your brother, Rose. Jasper Hale, I like it. Or did you want to be a Whitlock?”

He must have picked up some emotion from her because he hurried to reassure her. “I like Hale better, myself. It would be a little strange for you to take another man’s name when you already have a husband, wouldn’t it? Besides, it’s been so long since I’ve used that name I can barely remember who that man was.”

Rosalie reached out to smooth his wild hair down before leaning back against her husband. That was all it took for things to be decided between them. I would have to remember to get some documents with Jaspers new name on them. Speaking of Jasper, there was something else that made me curious, and now seemed as good a time as any to ask about it.

“So, Jasper Hale, can I ask you a question about your gift?” I always tried to give him a choice in the matter. It seemed to me that he had had far too many people forcing him already in his life.

“Shoot.” His eyes were open now, but they were circled and heavy lidded. Far too circled and dark, considering that he had had a successful hunt the day before.

“Does it bother you to use your gift? You seem very tired now.” I kept my tone light. Even though he’s been with us for a year and a half, Jasper is still very sensitive to criticism, or what he perceives as criticism.

“If I have to use it for a long time, or on a large group of people, it can get wearing.” Jasper shifted back against the seat. “But just now and then I barely notice.

I had to marvel at how easily he revealed this weakness to me instead of trying to hide it like he would have a few months before. “That’s very interesting. Edward doesn’t seem to be tired out by his.”

Shit. Even as the words were coming out of my mouth, I regretted them. Edward and Jasper already had a difficult time getting along, and I didn’t want to fan the flames of their rivalry.

But Jasper didn’t seem upset at all. “Edward has a passive gift. He listens to others thoughts, that’s it. If I was just reading emotions, I wouldn’t get tired either, since that’s the passive part of my gift. But manipulating, which is active, takes more out of me. I’m tired now, and I’ll have to hunt as soon as we get to Alaska, because it’s an effort to keep it up.”

It was a simple, but effective, explanation. There wasn’t much else to say, but he was giving me an expectant look. “I see.” It was a silly thing to say, but at least it was something.

Apparently it was all that was needed, because he gave me one of those enigmatic Mona Lisa smiles and closed his eyes, his long body relaxing against the seat. It made him look deceptively young and fragile.

Over the hum of the tires I heard Esme telling us to pull over, that she needed to stop for gas. Got to love vampire hearing. The cars pulled to a halt, and Jasper stirred out of his daze to jump out and greet Alice. I watched them circle each other and kiss, acting like they had been separated for days instead of hours. Young love. Well, as young as it got when one of you was about 150 and God alone knew how old the other was.

Rosalie took over driving when we got back in the car, as I was getting bored with it. I had offered to let Jasper do it, but he had shrugged and told me he didn’t know how. It surprised me at first, but I had to admit that I had never actually seen him try. Alice could, and he seldom went anywhere that he wasn’t with her and he couldn’t run. He did move into the back with Emmett though, giving the better seat to the one with higher rank.

He still seemed tired, but he leaned against Emmett, purring quietly. My biggest son shifted to put and arm around the smaller shoulders, grumbling back at him. Rose followed my gaze in the rearview mirror. “Let them be. Brothers speak their own language. Let them have their secrets because, God knows, there aren’t enough of them in this family. Not with Alice and Edward around.”

Family. That was the word I had to hold on to. We were a family, not a clan or coven. Everyone had a say, and the decisions weren’t unilateral, dependant on the whims of one leader. I might have made mistakes with my children, not letting them get in touch with their deeper natures, but I had done things right, too. My kids stayed with me by choice, not because they were afraid or dependant on me. If I ever needed proof of that, I could look at Jasper, and the changes in him since he had come to us.

This wasn’t the first time we had faced a slip-up like this, nor would it be the last. Tonight it had been Emmett; tomorrow it might be Edward or Jasper. But we would get through this, and anything that might follow. I looked at the three of them in the flickering streetlights that lined the highway. Up ahead, I could make out the blurry forms of my mate and other two children. I had thought our family would be complete at six. Esme and I, Rosalie and Emmett, Edward and his mate, whoever she might be. Alice and Jasper had come from nowhere, bringing our family to seven. Still, now that we had them, I couldn’t imagine how we had ever lived without them. Alice with her bubbly nature and loving attitude, and Jasper, who was teaching us all the things we had forgotten about our vampiric lives. Maybe in the coming years our family would grow to eight and beyond. Alice had spoken of a mysterious “her” that Edward would be looking for in Forks. A mate? Hopefully.

But for the moment, it was just the seven of us, driving to Alaska. And for the moment, seven was enough.

Fresh Steps

Written By:MythicCreatures
You can read the original here:
All Credit goes to the original author

I can’t it will be over. I will finally be able to escape from the near hell I have been living in. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. My mother has made my life horrible, not completely horrible. Just a life I couldn’t stand. It got to the point I no longer wanted to be in the same room. Plus, she was going to kick me out. I guess I should start at the beginning, to tell you how my life became so unbearable. My life started out so much simpler then it has been the last couple years or so.

My parents got married and had my twin brother right and me after they graduated from high school. The fact that we were born was what ripped their relationship apart. I got stuck with my mother and my brother got to stay with our father. Our father is the kind of parent that every kid wants. The kind of parent who wants to have kids. Dad was the reason why Mom didn’t give us up for adoption or have an abortion. I wish Dad could have kept me as well as Emmett.

Mom got remarried to a guy named Phil. Once she married him, she started becoming more and more petty and wanting me to be someone I wasn’t. She wanted me to become one of those “popular” girls. A cheerleader. A volleyball player. Mom started buying my slutty clothes. Things, I am sure, only hookers would wear.

I had gotten a job, at a bookstore much to Mom’s horror, to buy myself clothes that fit me. Well, clothes to hide in. I wore jeans with baggy t-shirts. I would have bought myself baggy sweatshirts, but in Phoenix, that would be asking for a heat stroke.

When Phil finally got signed on to a baseball team, Mom wanted to put me into the foster care system so she could travel with him. Only one problem with that: in a month, I’ll be 18 and then be forced to live on my own my entire senior year of high school. I told her I was going to live with Dad. It was time for me to spend for than 3 weeks a year with my brother and father.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Honey, are you sure you want to be moving all the way to Forks?” Mom asked me, yet again. “Also, I noticed that you had all your good clothes donated to Goodwill. Why would you do something like that? Don’t you need clothes in Forks?”

I rolled my eyes. “Mom. Those clothes are not my style. Even if they were, they show WAY too much skin to keep in Forks. It rains 99% of the year. Of course I want to go there. It beats you sending me into foster care—which means living on my own starting in September.”

“You know I wasn’t really going to do that, Bella. I would never kick you out of the house.”

“Parents who care about their children don’t joke about giving them up to total strangers. They don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m going to travel with my husband, so I’m going to give you up to the state.’ Even if they were thinking that, they would consider when their child’s 18th birthday was, hten just kick them out. So, I am going to go stay with the parent who still cares about me,” I retorted. It was the most I have ever said to her in several years.

She stared at me. “How do you know Charlie still cares for you?”

I laughed. “Are you serious? He calls me once a week. Asks about my friends, my job, school. He makes sure I am doing my homework…all by phone. He buys my plane tickets to visit him. Sends me letters. Gives me presents for my birthday, Christmas, hell, even Easter. He even told me he bought me a car.”

“Bella, don’t be rash. You can’t just hop on a plane and take off.”

I shook my head and grabbed my backpack. “That is what I am doing. I am not being rash. I am being smart. Later, Mom.” I didn’t look back. I just kept walking until I found my gate.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I read and listened to my I-Pod during the plane trips. I had one long ride from Phoenix to Seattle and then a short hop from Seattle to Port Angeles. Dad or Emmett were picking me up at the airport for the hour-long ride to Forks. I couldn’t wait to see them. It was going to be so nice to live with the guys. Dad was just a laid back kind of guy. He will just let me do my thing, as long as I am doing my homework. Emmett was a teddy bear.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, my plane landed in Port Angeles. I walked off the plane and started looking around the airport. I was on the verge of standing on one of the airport chairs (which would have ended badly for my klutzy self, I’m sure) when I was grabbed from behind and crushed into a bear hug. I squealed. I managed to turn myself around. “EMMETT! Put me down!” I yelled.

“I can’t believe my big sister is finally here. Finally. I’ve been wanting you to move in with me and Dad for years.”

“Just cause I’m four minutes older doesn’t make me a big sister. Look at you! Your like the Incredible Hulk-with normal looking skin,” I joked.

“Let’s gets your bags, sis. Dad said he was going to cook you a welcome home dinner.” Emmett gave me a sidelong look.

I laughed. “Well, let’s go save the house before Dad burns it down.”

“Let’s gets your bags, sis. Dad said he was going to cook you a welcome home dinner.” Emmett gave me a sidelong look.

I laughed. “Well, let’s go save the house before Dad burns it down.”

The drive from the airport to Dad’s house took just a little under an hour, but only felt like a couple of minutes. Emmett and I had a lot of catching up to do. He told me all about his girlfriend, Rosalie, who has a twin brother, Jasper. The four of us are all seniors, and once school starts in a couple of weeks, we will all probably have a couple classes together. Forks High School had less than 400 students. I’m sure I will be able to recognize all the students by the end of the first week of school.

“Bella, you’ll love your room. Dad and I redecorated it for you.”

I turned to look at him, my eyes wide. “You and Dad redid my room? Without asking me? You guys are nuts!”

He just laughed. “No worries, Bell. Rosalie helped out. I told her all about you and she gave me all the ideas. Also, helped Dad and I out with the actual decorating. Which is a good thing. Otherwise you might have ended up with dark purple walls, red carpet, blue blankets and who knows what else.”

“I knew you two were helpless. Remind me to thank Rosalie once I actually meet her.”

Emmett pulled up to the house. It looked like it always looked. The house, I swear, has never changed. Dad and Mom had rented the house together until Mom ran off with me to Arizona. After a couple years, when the landlords realized Dad was a good guy and they wanted to return, they offered to sell the house to him at a cheap price considering he had years of rent paid. “Here we are!”

I jumped out of the car, excited that I was finally away from Mom. I was finally at a place where I could feel welcome. I was HOME! I ran to the trunk of Emmett’s Jeep and tripped over a clump of grass. “Still a klutz. Nice to see that some things don’t change.”

“Ha ha ha, Emmett. Let’s just get inside,” I stated glaring at my huge brother. He grabbed my bags out of the trunk for me and followed me up the steps.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The first thing I did once I saw my room was drop my backpack on the floor. It was gorgeous. It was wonderful. I loved it. The walls and sheets on my bed were light blue, the comforter was a dark royal blue, and the bed frame, desk, and dresser were made out of a dark wood.

I walked around my room. Looking at everything. There was a stereo on top of the dresser as well as a CD rack for the music I brought with me. On my desk, there was a computer. Granted, a used computer, but a computer non-the less. I was excited. At Mom’s, I had to use the same computer as her and Phil. So, I never got to use it unless it was school related.

“Like it?”

“Dad!” I skipped to the door of my room and hugged him. “I’ve missed you! Of course I like it. Thanks. I’ll have to tell Rosalie thanks for not letting you guys pick all my stuff out.”

Dad smiled and nodded. “I was just about to make dinner. What are you hungry for?”

Before I could answer, I heard “DAD! We only have eggs and moldy bread! Do you want me to go to the store?” Emmett yelled up the stairs.

Dad and I went downstairs and I told them that I would go to the store with Emmett and make dinner. The only thing dad could cook was scrambled eggs and poached fish. Nothing like the same boring thing to eat every night. No thank you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emmett and I arrived at the store, with Dad’s food money in our pockets. Emmett went straight for the frozen food section. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking for stuff for dinner,” he stated.

He was crazy. It was official. Emmett had lost his mind. “You want to make us pre-made meals that have been frozen solid? No spices, soggy vegetables if there are any in there and freezer burn.”

Emmett shifted his weight from foot to foot, “Well, put like that, it doesn’t sound so good. But they taste all right. Dad and I eat them all the time. Hungry Man meals, I tell you are great.”

I shook my head and pulled him to the produce area. I was able to pick up some good-looking vegetables, even though Emmett whined and complained about me picking up some lettuce and tomatoes for a salad. I had an onion in my hand and as I went to put it in the cart, it slipped out of my hand and rolled half way down the aisle. With Emmett’s laughter in the background, I slowly walked towards my runaway onion. When I went to reach for it, someone else grabbed it.

Confused by who would grab my onion, I looked up. All I could focus on were a pair of emerald green eyes. “This yours?” The voice sounded wonderful. It was velvety smooth.

I nodded. I could hardly speak because of how gorgeous the owner of the green eyes was. He had messy brown hair that was almost bronze in color. He was tall and lean, but still had muscles.

“Did you just move here?”

“Yeah,” I squeaked.

“BELLA! Did you get the onion?” I turned and saw Emmett lumbering towards this guy and me. “Edward. How are you doing?”

“Fine, Emmett.” Edward looked back and forth between Emmett and I. “I thought you were with Rosalie.”

For a second Emmett looked slightly confused. Then he burst out laughing. “What? Me and Bella together? Oh no. Bella’s my twin sister. Edward, Bella. Bella, Edward.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, finally able to be able speak with out embarrassing myself.

“Pleasure,” Edward responded. “Emmett, see you tomorrow?”

Emmett nodded before we finished our shopping trip. I kept wondering what Edward and Emmett were doing tomorrow. I wanted to know if I would be able to see him again. If my mind would have worked, I would have been worried about how obsessed I became over Edward. I hadn’t even had a full conversation with him.

The only thing that night I could truly focus on was Edward and his eyes.

The Next Day

My bed was shaking. Does Forks get earthquakes this bad? I wondered. I opened my eyes. It wasn’t an earthquake. Emmett was at the foot of my bed, shaking it as hard as he could. “Why are you trying to kill my bed? I’ve only slept in it once! I don’t want it to die.”

Emmett smiles at my coyly. “We are hanging out with my friends today. They all want to meet you.”

“So you decided waking me up at 8:30 in the morning was a good idea? Good night.” I pulled my blanket over my head, so I could fall back to sleep.

My blanket was snatched off my body and thrown onto the ground. I sat up and stared at Emmett. “What do you want?”

“They’ll be here in an hour and a half. Rose will be here in a half an hour. She wants to help you get ready. So, go shower. You don’t want to cross Rose.” Emmett stayed in my room until I crawled off my bed and grabbed my things for the shower.

I turned on the shower to hot and was excited about having enough hot water for a full shower. Slowly I lathered my hair with strawberry shampoo, humming to myself. Once my hair was clean, I scrubbed my body with freesia shower gel. It felt so good to be clean.

A loud knocking on the bathroom door interrupted my internal singing. That was so not 30 minutes, I thought to myself. “Bella, you got two minutes ‘till Rose gets here. Hurry up.”

I stepped out of the shower and quickly dried myself off. I pulled on my bathrobe and then opened the door. There was a beautiful blonde standing outside the bathroom with her hand raised as if to knock. My ego and my concept of self-image took a low blow. She could easily be a model. “Hi?”

“Hey Bella. I’m Rose,” she said.

“Oh. Hey. Let me go get some clothes on,” I responded.

“Let me help pick something out. I love clothes. They don’t have to be mine in order for me to love them.”

We got to my room and Rose went straight to my dresser. I had unpacked last night rather sloppily and was somewhat embarrassed about how my clothes were put away. Rose turned at me after looking through my dresser. “Closet has more clothes in it, right?” She asked as she walked over to it. Rose opened the closet door and sighed at the fact it just had my coat and sweatshirts. She turned around and stared at me. I fiddled with the tie of my bathrobe. “IS that really all you own?” Rose asked pointing at my dresser.

I nodded. “My mom bought me a lot of clothes I felt…uncomfortable wearing. They were extremely reveling.

“Well, we’ll worry about getting you good, non reveling clothes tomorrow. Let me work my magic.”

I sat on my bed while Rose took everything out of my dresser. She separated everything into two piles. One pile she threw by my bedroom door, the other she carefully folded and put back into my dresser. Rose left out a pair of jeans and a blue sweater as well as some underwear. “Put these on. Then be ready for me to do your hair and make-up.”

I just stared at her as she walked out of my bedroom. Rose wanted to get rid of half of my wardrobe. I didn’t have the money to replace those until I got a job. Plus, I didn’t even own any make-up, let alone know what to do with it. I groaned not wanting to think about clothes or shopping or make-up. So I tried to occupy my mind with music while I changed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After what seemed like hours of torture (in reality, it was only thirty or forty minutes). Rose had my hair done and my makeup, which included some eyebrow plucking and eyelash curler. While in my room, she made sure I hadn’t snuck any of my clothes that were destined to Good Will stayed in their own pile.

I was ready to go. I knew that everyone (whoever everyone was) had already arrived. Their voices drifted upstairs as well as Emmett’s booming laughs. Rose had already run downstairs, leaving me to walk down the stairs by myself…a dangerous situation. Once I safely reached the bottom, I looked up and found myself staring at a gorgeous pair of green eyes.

“About damn time Bella!” Emmett yelled, causing me to blush.

Edward’s eyes followed me as I went to go find somewhere to sit.

“Hi Bella.” A shot spiky haired girl bounced up to me. I was kind of taken back by the amount of energy she had. “I’m Alice. Edward said he already got to meet you. Which sucks because I wanted to meet you first. He always gets to do things first. It’s not fair. Rose said she is going shopping with you tomorrow. So I am coming too. We’ll have to go somewhere else cause Forks doesn’t have any good places to buy clothes. Have you met Jasper yet? He’s my boyfriend. I think you’ll really…”
“Alice, leave her alone. She just got down here. You’ll be able to bug later. Let her breath,” Edward stated. Alice simply stuck her tongue out at him. “Bella, don’t mind my sister. She’s a little crazy.”

“Runs in the family,” Emmett stated. Edward simply rolled his eyes. “That’s Jasper.” I smiled at Rose’s twin. He seemed nice and calm. How strange he’s with the most hyper person I’ve ever met.

We ended up going out to lunch and then we watched several movies. Unfortunately, they were scary movies. I do not do scary movies well. I tend to scream when the music is scary. I was sitting next to Edward on the love seat and he started chuckling quietly to himself every time I tried to hide my scream or jump at a shadow on the TV screen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night never seemed to end. I didn’t want it to end either. I wanted it to keep going. After we watched some movies, Emmett order pizzas for the six of us. Charlie had decided to leave us “crazy kids alone,” so he went to watch a baseball game or football game, some sort of game at an old friends house.

Edward and I ended up staying on the love seat and talking for several hours after the movies, eating our pizza and sipping our Cokes.

“Would you like to me to get you a piece of pizza and some pop?” Edward asked me quietly.

“Sure…can you get me a coke and a piece of Hawaiian pizza please?” I requested.

Edward got up gracefully to get us our food and drinks. When he got back, he handed me my plate. I smiled at him, and then looked down. I was so bloody unsure hot to act around him. “You’re beautiful when you smile,” Edward said. “You shouldn’t hide your face with that smile.”

I chuckled. “Whatever, Edward. You’re just saying that to be nice.” I kept my head down.

“I would never just say it, Bella. You’re really pretty.” I just shook my head. “Obviously, this isn’t getting us anywhere. How ‘bout a game of twenty questions?”

“Sure…you start.”

Edward thought for a moment, and then asked, “Who’s your favorite musicians?

“I like Debussy for whenever I need a classical fix. The Wailin’ Jennys are probably my all time favorite. I like a lot of others too. I like too many musicians to really narrow it down beyond that,” I replied. “What’s your favorite movie?”

“Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have a huge movie collection, but I think those are my favorite. What’s your favorite color?”

“Green,” I blurted out with out thinking. My face betrayed me as I blushed a deep red.

“Why are you so embarrassed about your answer?”

I looked at him. “Because if you would have asked me that last week, I would have said brown.” He smirked. “There is nothing wrong with the color brown. It is a warm color. Everything that is brown in Arizona isn’t here. I miss it.”

“But why did your favorite color change?”

“That’s not fair! That’s another question,” I teased. “You’re a twenty questions cheater!”

It was Edward’s turn to blush, though it wasn’t as bad as any of my blushes. “Fine, ask your question.”

“What’s your favorite hobby?”

“Playing music,” Edward answered. “I play the piano and am learning to play the guitar. I love listening to all kinds of music. Now—you get to answer m question.” Edward grinned at me, then picked up my hand.

Man, I thought. Not getting off the hook with Edward. A faint brush came on my face because of him holding my hand. “I said green because of the color of your eyes,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to see how I offended him, so my eyes stayed glued on our hands.

I felt his fingers under my chin; gently lifting my head to I could look into his eyes. “Bella, don’t be embarrassed. Thank you for telling me. My favorite color is blue—which looks wonderful against your skin.” We just stared at each other for a long moment. “Your turn.”

“What are your parents like?” I asked, curious about his family.

Edward just looked at me oddly for asking that question. “Well, my dad is a doctor. We used to live in Chicago and he worked in a big medical facility there, but my mom wanted to live in a small town. So my dad go offered this job. Mom is just…mom. She is a wonderful person. She is an interior decorator. There isn’t a lot of call for that here in Forks, but she still ends up with lots of work. She just travels more than she used to. But she’s also cut back on the amount of work she does.”

I smiled. It was so obvious that he loved his parents a lot. I found it rather cute. I’m sure most girls my age wouldn’t.

“Bella, why did you move to Forks?”

I looked at him, wondering how much he really wanted to know. “Mom got remarried a couple of years ago. She didn’t know who to prioritize between me and Phil. She chose Phil. I moved here to spend more time with Dad and Emmett, as well as give them the space that Mom and Phil really wanted. I’m glad to be able to spend more than a couple weeks a year here.”

The next four hours consisted of Edward and I asking questions back and forth. He refilled my pop several times and I never thought about the fact I would never be able to get to sleep. Stupid caffeine.

Charlie finally came home around 11 PM, amazed Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Edward were still over. He shooed them away as fast as possible, but that took a little bit of time. My new friends didn’t want to leave.

“BELLA!” Alice shrieked at me. “Rose and I want to take you shopping tomorrow. “Is that all right?”
“Sure. When do you want to leave?” I asked.

“We’ll pick up at 9 in the morning.”

“OK.” Though 9 seemed a little early to me to go shopping. Maybe I’ll get back really early and I can do something else in the early afternoon. Or convince them to go to a bookstore.

“Bella?” Edward asked.

I turned towards him. “Yeah?”

He seemed nervous; he was fidgeting with his cars keys and not really looking me in the eye. “I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner tomorrow night. We can talk some more and get to know each other more…but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I would understand, but I would really like to take you out somewhere. I could pick you up here. But don’t feel pressured to some with me, I wouldn’t want…”

The only thing I could do was cut him off. “Edward!” I said, putting my hands on his. “I would love to go to dinner with you. “Give me your phone.” When he handed it to me, I programmed my number into. “See you tomorrow!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Alice and Rose told me shopping, I assumed we would go to two or three shops, getting MAYBE one or two items at each store. I SPENT FIVE HOURS IN A MALL! Those two are intense shoppers. Every store, I came out with three or four complete outfits. Alice insisted on paying for everything. Apparently, her family is loaded.

Finally, I balked. “I am NOT going in there. There is nothing I need in there. No no NO!” Alice and Rose grabbed my arms and shoved me into Victoria’s Secret.

“Bella, you are not doing your body a favor wearing sports bras and granny panties. This stuff will make you a while new person,” Rose stated.

“You gotta keep the girls happy,” Alice chimed in. At my confused look, she simply pointed at my chest. “Really, Bella? Do you want to get saggy by the time you’re outta college? I didn’t think so.”

I decided I just needed to stop fighting. They would get their way. Though, I still stayed by the store entrance. “BELLA!” Alice shouted from the dressing room area, causing people to stare. “Get in here, now!”

“What? I haven’t even picked out any bras out yet,” I asked getting slightly frustrated when I got to the dressing room.

“You gotta get sized,” Alice stated.

“I know my size. 38A.”

Rose crossed her arms and stared me down. “85% of women wear the wrong size bra. Better be safe than saggy.”

So I stood there, embarrassed, while a Victoria’s Secret worker measured me. “All right, miss. You are a 36 B.”

Alice and Rose just raised their eyebrows at me. Before I knew it, I had two full bags of bras, panties and a couple of very…sexy looking nightgown things. I’m sure there is a better name for them, but I have not idea what it is.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Really Emmett. I just want to get some rest. Your girlfriend can be very tiring,” I stated. I was sitting on my bed, surrounded by bags. Tons and tons of bags.

“Trust me, I know she can be tiring. Just eh other night…”

“EW! Go no further with that thought, buddy. I do not want or need to know about your sex life.”

Emmett just smiled at me. “I know Edward and you are having dinner tonight. Isn’t that kinda fast?”

“So? We’re just getting to know each other,” I stated. “It’s not like a date or anything. We’re just getting dinner.”

“That’s what you say now. But what will you say later?” Emmett asked.

“Cryptic much, Em?” Rolling my eyes at him, I started to unpack my bags. I was under penalty of more shpping in the next 48 hours if I didn’t hang up my new clothes and carefully put my bras away.

Somehow, Emmett got into the bags I didn’t want him anywhere near. I turned away from my closet to see Emmett’s eyes bug out. “You doing something or planning on doing something I should know about?”

“What?”

“Are you doing to be doing it with Edward tonight?”

“God, Emmett. I just met him! Plus you can blame every single thing from Victoria’s Secret on Alice and Rose.”

Emmett stared at me, then walked out of my room. I shook my head at how he was acting. I had put all my new clothes away when Emmett came back to my room. He handed me a box and said, “Be smart.” I looked down. Condoms. Great.

I stared at the box of condoms in my hands, completely embarrassed by my brother

I stared at the box of condoms in my hands, completely embarrassed by my brother. I couldn’t believe Emmett thought Edward and I were actually going to have…be…well, you know. Do it. I didn’t even know what to do with the box. All I knew, I had to hide it where Charlie wouldn’t think to look. I stood in the middle of the room, turning in a small circle. My eyes landed on the dresser. The one thing that scared my dad more than tears was my bras and underwear.

As I was putting the box in the back of my underwear drawer, my phone started ringing. I sighed. I’d never be able to recover from my shopping trip with Alice and Rose before I had dinner with Edward. I looked at the caller ID. It was Alice. “Hey,” I said into my phone.

“I want to help you get ready for your date with Edward. Who knows what you’ll pick out to wear. I mean you might just wear something I didn’t buy for you,” Alice said.

“Alice! I don’t want any help. I think I can get ready by myself. You and Rose did give me the ‘what to wear on a first date’ low down earlier,” I responded.

“Fine, but don’t come to me complaining that you forgot that plains and stripes don’t go to together,” Alice retorted.

I laughed at her. “I won’t make any huge fashion errors, I promise.”

I gave up on trying to relax before getting ready. I didn’t want to be late because I needed to rest. Starting early gave me an option of taking a longer than normal shower. It felt good to get into the hot shower after being on my feet for so many hours with Alice and Rose. Some of the advice I got from Rose and Alice was to dress differently than what Edward saw me in yesterday, but keep my “smell” the same. Which wasn’t hard to do, because the only shampoo I had was strawberry and the only shower gel of mine was freesia. So, it isn't a problem smelling the same. I just had to make sure I could pick out an outfit. Even though I told Alice I didn’t need her help, some part of my wished she would just come over to pick out my clothes.

When I finally got out of the shower, the water was starting to cool down. The bathroom was filled with steam. I couldn’t see into the mirrors. I wrapped myself in my bathrobe and went to go stare into my closet. “Hey, Bella!” Alice bounced off of my bed to give me a hug. “You take long showers. Oh well. Nothing we can do to change that now. I’ve picked out a couple different outfits for you to choose from.”

I stared at her. “I thought you weren’t coming over.”

Alice laughed. She glanced at me as she started going through my underwear drawer. “I wasn’t going to miss the Hallmark moment of my brother going out with someone. I thought that would NEVER happen.” She threw a matching bra and panty set at me. “Well, start changing.”

“I’m not changing with you in here,” I informed her.

“Don’t worry. I’m not looking. I am rearranging your underwear drawer. You’ve got totally different styles mixing with each other. Bella, you’ve got to be more aware of what you own.”

“Alice, I don’t even know what styles I own. You forced them all on me. Not that I don’t mind, I like all the things you…”

“WHAT IS THIS?” Alice screamed at me.

I looked at her. “What are you yelling you about?” I saw the box of condoms in her hand. “Oh. Those.”

“That’s really all you can say. ‘Oh. Those.’ Are you and Edward planning on having sex?” Alice asked.

“Emmett gave me those earlier today. I’m not planning on anything. Besides, I don’t even know if this is a date. He just asked me to dinner, not to go steady or be his girlfriend or whatever you are suppose to ask now.”

“You are strange, Bella. Edward likes you. He wants you. Yeah, you guys just met and don’t know each other well enough yet, spare me that conversation please. Already had it with Edward. But, you guys are meant for each other. Now, will you put on you shirt please?” she asked.

I looked down and realized I was just standing there in a pair of skinny jeans and my bra. I blushed and pulled on a dark blue tank top with a black button up sweater. I knew I would not have been able to put together such a simple outfit and make it look so sophisticated as well. Also, I don’t think I would have dared to put on these jeans unless Alice was standing over me. Now that I have them on and see them as an outfit, I really like the skinny jeans. How strange!

After what seemed like hours, Alice had my hair straightened and some light make-up put on my face. I had admittedly refused the make-up at first, and then Alice managed to convince me after she said that I wouldn’t be able to tell it was on. That it would just emphasis my features. If Alice was lying, I already told her I would be washing it all off. I looked in the mirror, once Alice allowed me to see myself; I actually liked what she did.

“Edward is going to be here in a couple of minutes, so I suggest just hanging out up here. That way you can make an appearance,” Alice said.

“Where are you going? Why do I need to make an appearance? Can’t I just go read on the couch?” I asked.

“Trust me, you’ll want to make an appearance with that outfit. Edward will love how you look when you come down the stairs. I’m just going to go down and talk with Emmett and Rose. Jasper is coming over soon. Then the four of us are going to go see a movie, and probably get some dinner as well. So! Good luck tonight,” Alice chirped. She bounced to me and hugged me; my face went right to her spiky black hair. “Make sure you take a condom or two to keep in your purse, Bella. You never know when you might need them.”

I sat down on my bed and grabbed my copy of Wuthering Heights off of my bed stand. Though I had read it several times before, I never got tired of the story of messed up love it told. I was able to get a chapter or so read before, “Bella! Edward’s here,” Charlie shouted up the stairs.

I ran to the top of the stairs, and then I slowly started walking downstairs. The last thing I wanted to do was trip down the stairs when Edward was waiting for me. I finally looked up from the steps and into the little living room. Edward was staring at me. I blushed.

“Bella, you look nice,” Charlie said.

“Thanks Dad,” I responded.

“Yo, Bells!” Emmett yelled. I looked over at him. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do tonight.”

“That’s not reassuring, Emmett,” Charlie stated. “You do too much for your own good. If you weren’t twice my size, I would do something about that.”

We all laughed, Alice’s fairy laugh ringing out above the rest of ours.

Edward had moved over to my side and I felt my whole body tingling at being so close to him. “You ready?” he asked. I just nodded. Edward and I headed towards the door.

“Edward? Bella?” I groaned. Of course Charlie would have something to say to us. “Have her back no later than midnight, Edward. Also, be safe…with whatever you guys are doing. Nothing illegal though!” Dad was blushing. He was blushing! Did everyone think that Edward and I were going to do something?

“Don’t worry, Dad. We’re not doing anything that is fraught with danger,” I said.

Finally, Edward and I were on our way to dinner.

I didn’t know where we were going for dinner. I assumed it would be somewhere in Forks. When Edward started driving towards the edge of town, I looked at him and asked, “Where are we going?”

“Can’t you handle the surprise?”

“Can you at least tell me which city we are going to eat in?”

“No.”

“Please? You don’t have to tell me the name of the restaurant or the type of food we are eating, just tell me where geographically,” I asked again, putting on my best puppy dog pout.

Edward glanced over at me. “That’s a low blow, Bella. How can I tell you no when you look at me like that?”

“You aren’t suppose to tell me no, you’re suppose to answer the question,” I stated.

“Fine! We are going to Port Angeles.”

“That wasn’t so hard now was it?”

“Why don’t you put on some music, Bella?”

I spent the next five minutes or so digging around in Edwards CD case. I couldn’t pick. Edward and I had fairly similar music taste. I couldn’t narrow it down to under six CD’s. So I randomly picked one of the pile I had in my hands. The Wailin’ Jennys. Edward smiled over at me once he realized my choice.

We spent the entire car ride continuing our game of twenty questions. I felt completely relaxed in his company. It felt like we reached the restaurant in seconds though it had to have taken close to an hour. “Bella Italia?”

“How could I resist? Plus, it has great Italian food. You said last night you loved ravioli,” Edward answered before we got out of the car. He ran around the hood and opened my door for me. I smiled up at him. Once out of the car, he grabbed my hand and we walked into the restaurant.

“Welcome to Bella Italia. Table for two?” the hostess asked. Edward nodded. He didn’t seem to notice the lustful look in her eye or the extra sway to her hips.

I softly chuckled at her attempt, even though I wasn’t sure if he liked blondes who were bustier then I am. Edward glanced at me when I chuckled. “Nothing,” I whispered.

“Can I start you with any drinks?” the hostess asked, looking only at Edward.

“I’ll a coke,” I replied and the hostess didn’t seem to notice I spoke.

“We’d like two cokes, please,” Edward stated, finally noticing the hostess wasn’t paying attention to me at all.

Once the hostess finally understood Edward wasn’t interested, she left to get us our drinks. We remained fairly quiet until she brought the drinks. I didn’t really know what to say. I was getting nervous around Edward. I wasn’t nervous with him last night or on the car ride over. My eyes wouldn’t meet his and my hands kept fiddling with my napkin.

“Bella, what’s wrong?” Edward asked.

“Why would anything be wrong?” I responded.

“You’re nervous. You won’t look at me. You’re messing around with your napkin. Can’t you just tell me what’s up?”

I looked up into his eyes, and then quickly glanced away. “I guess I was just wondering…what we are?”

“What do you mean what we are?”

“Are we friends? Are we dating? Are you my boyfriend? Are we somewhere between friends and boy/girlfriend?” I quickly asked. I wanted to ask the questions, to get them out, but I was sacred to hear the answers. I wanted to date Edward, but if we were dating, wouldn’t we be moving fast?

Edward tried to get me to look at him. “I would love it if you would date me. I just want to spend time with you. If that means I become your best friend that is what I will do. But it’s only fair to say, I like you Bella. I know we just met 24 hours ago, but I want us to date.”

I finally looked him in the eyes. “I would like to date you.”

“Do you know what you want to eat?”

Startled, Edward and I looked up. We stared at the waiter then started laughing. “I want the…mushroom ravioli,” I said, after glancing quickly at the menu.

“I want the fettuccine alfredo,” Edward stated.

The rest of our evening went smoothly. We talked about subjects I hadn’t even realized we didn’t talk about yesterday. The dinner, the ride back home, everything was perfect. Once back at my house, we talked some more until Emmett and Rose came home and started to tease us.

I walked Edward to the door. He pulled me out onto the porch and into a hug. He rested his forehead on mine. “I’ll miss you, Bella.”

“You’re coming over tomorrow,” I reminded him.

“But that’s so far away!” he complained.

I laughed. Edward hugged me tighter, then leaned down and softly put his lips on mine. “Till tomorrow,” he whispered to me then walked off the porch and to his car.

“You know we need to tell him, right?” Edward asked me. We had officially been dating for only a couple of days, but he was set on telling Charlie. “The sooner, the better,” he reminded me. I sighed.

“I know we have to tell him. But don’t you think he already realizes that we are dating? Do we really need to tell him today? Can’t we just wait another couple days…or months?” I pleaded.

I was fairly sure Charlie would be all right with me dating Edward. But I am sure he would need some time to get used to the idea that I had a boyfriend. I had just moved in with the man. Edward just glared at me. “What? It’s not like you are jumping up and down to tell your parents.”

“They already know Bella. I told them I asked you out to dinner and that I wanted to date you. When I got home that night, I let them know we were officially together.”

“Oh,” was all I could say as I blushed.

“They want to meet you, by the way. Mom asked if you want to come over for dinner tonight?” Edward asked.

My mouth fell open. “Your parents want me to eat dinner at their house and you just NOW tell me? I mean…AGH! That’s a HUGE step, Edward. The girlfriend meeting the parents. Going, I would have to take a shower, change my clothes, shave my legs, do something with my hair…”

“Whoa, Bella. Calm down. Did you forget that your dad already knows me?”

“Yeah well my dad is different cause he’s my dad. Also, he knew you before you knew me. So that doesn’t count.”

“So, dinner?” Edward asked, his eyes pleading with me. “I really want you to meet them. Plus, Alice and Jasper are going to be there. Please??”

I sighed. “All right. I’ll go.”

Edward smiled down at me. We were sitting on my bed. I had put on music before we started to talk about telling Charlie we weren’t just friends. I put my head on his shoulder. Edward’s arm snuck around my waist, firmly keeping him by his side. His head ended up resting lightly on mine. Every once in a while Edward would kiss me—on the cheek, on the top of the head, the forehead.

It was nice to be able to relax with Edward. The last couple of days, Edward and I had fully realized how much music we liked. We liked a lot of the same music, though we both liked stuff the other had never heard of. So, we had taken to just sitting on my bed, listening to music. Emmett had made fun of us because he had come into my room on several occasions and only found us staring into space, barely holding each other.

“Bella!”

Edward and I slowly got up and off my bed. “Coming, Dad,” I called downstairs. We looked at each other, knowing what was coming. I grimaced. “Do we really have to do this?” I asked Edward quietly. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Once we walked downstairs, Charlie stared at us. “You two have been spending a lot of time in Bella’s room lately? Doing anything exciting up there?”

“I really hope you aren’t asking the same thing Emmett would be asking with that question. We’ve been listening to music,” I answered. Charlie laughed and shook his head. Edward elbowed me. I stared at him. I didn’t want to be telling my father anything about us.

Charlie started to walk towards the kitchen. Edward followed him and pulled me along behind him. “Charlie?” Edward asked. Charlie stopped walking and turned around to look at us. “We have something we want to tell you.”

“OK. What is it?”

“I asked Bella to be my girlfriend, and she agreed,” Edward stated. He made it seem so simple. Our conversation at our first date was not him asking me and me agreeing. It was just me asking questions and being freaking confused.

Charlie looked at Edward, then looked at me then looked back at Edward. “Bella, you happy with this?”

“Yeah, I’m happy, Dad. Even though we have only known each other for a couple of days, we found that we have a lot in common,” I told him.

“That’s great. Edward, a moment please.”

I looked at my father. “Dad, are you going to do the whole over protective dad thing? Cause if you are, you don’t need to. I can take care of myself.”

“I’m your father. I can do the over protective dad thing if I want to.”

I rolled my eyes and left Charlie and Edward in the kitchen. I decided that I needed to pick out what I was going to wear to meet Edward’s parents. So, I ran upstairs (well, walked quickly) to go and stare into my closet. It was hard to choose. I was no Rose or Alice. I wasn’t sure of what to put together to make it look good. Guess I would just have to guess. I grabbed a black skirt and a blue shirt and held them up. Nodding, I placed them on my bed. Then I went back to my closet to see if there was anything else I could possibly wear.

Flipping through my closet, I grabbed the pair of skinny jeans I wore too dinner with Edward, but didn’t know what shirt to wear with it. I groaned and threw the pants onto my bed. “What’s wrong?” Edward asked from my doorway.

I just stared at him. “I don’t know what to wear.”

Edward saw the skirt, jeans, and shirt on my bed. “Just wear the jeans and shirt. Doesn’t have to be fancy. We’re just going to eat with my parents.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Edward waited for me in my room as I showered and changed. I wanted to be quick, so I could spend more time alone with Edward. But, after I showered, I couldn’t decide if I should just wear my hair down, like I normally do, or if I should do something “special” with it. Then I had to contemplate make-up. I don’t normally wear it, but I wanted to make a good impression on his parents. When I finally got out of the bathroom, my hair was down and I only put on some eyes shadow and mascara.

Edward was sitting on my bed, listening to Debussy. He turned his head towards me and smiled. “You look nice.”

“Thanks.” I walked over to my bed and sat down next to him. Edward pulled me closer to him and put his arm around my waist. I leaned against his chest and sighed. “This is nice.”

I felt him nod in agreement. “I told your dad that you were coming over for dinner. He said that’s fine since he was going over to Belly Black’s for some game and eating there.”

“Of course he is. What did he want to talk to you about?” I asked, worried of what my dad could have said.

Edward took one of my hands with his free hand and started rubbing his thumb on the back of my hand. “Nothing, really.”

“Edward I know he said something. Sp, please, tell me.”

He sighed. “Charlie told me if I hurt you in any way or got you pregnant, he would gladly kill me.” I groaned at that and buried my face in Edward’s chest. “He said if I kept you happy, he would be fine having me in the house and taking you out.”

”My dad sucks,” I stated. “Stupid, over protective father.” Edward chuckled.

We stayed on my bed, listening to music for the next hour or so. “Bella? Edward? I’m leaving.”

“Bye, Dad!”

“See you later, sir.”

After we heard my father leave, Edward turned my face towards his. He gently kissed me. It was the first time we kissed since the first night on the porch, after going to dinner. My hands went on his shoulders, then they, with a mind of their own, fisted into his hair. We deepened the kiss, without thinking about it. It was something we craved. Breathless, we pulled away from each other, panting.

Edward grinned at my. I pulled his head back towards mine so we could kiss again. It was even more heated then the one before. Before either one of us knew it, Edward was on top of me, his legs on either side of mine. My hands were roaming over his back and chest, not wanting to slow down. Edward took his lips off of mine and rested his forehead on mine.

“Bella,” he strained to say. “We can’t…we need to stop...slow down…something.”

I frowned. This kiss felt wonderful, even though I knew if we got heated this quickly, who knew what might happen next. “All right.”

Edward rolled of me, but kept one arm on top my stomach. He propped himself up on his other arm and looked down at me. “You are so beautiful.” I blushed and shook my head. “One day, you’ll figure that out. Anyway, we should go over to my house. OH! You might want to bring some extra clothes. I’ll bet money, Alice will want you to spend the night with her.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I gasped in shook when I saw his house. It was HUGE! A mansion. I never expected this to be where Edward lived. I continued to sit in the car, trying to take it all in. Edward opened my door and had to half pulled me out in order for me to start moving.

Edward walked me up the porch steps and into the house. “Finally!” yelled Alice. She ran full tilt down the stairs and gave me a bear hug. “Edward. I told you I wanted to spend time with her. You can’t be the only person she hangs out with. Bella! Spend the night with me. Please, please, please!”

“Alice stop begging and let them come inside,” a musical voice rang out. I looked over and there was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. “I’m Esme, their mother. It is so nice to finally meet you, Bella.” She pulled me into a hug once she managed to pry Alice off of me.

“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Cullen.”

“Call me Esme. Carlisle! Stop working and get down here,” Esme yelled.

I heard some more thundering on the stairs when an older version of Edward appeared at the bottom of the massive staircase. “You must be Bella. Edward and Alice talk about you all the time.” I blushed. “Emmett tells me you might be on of my regular customers.” I looked confused. “I work in the ER at the local hospital.

“Oh! I am pretty clumsy. I could hurt myself sitting on couch,” I told Carlisle, who laughed at my response.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After dinner, I called Charlie and let him know I was spending the night. It was nice to be able to spend time with Alice and Jasper as well. The four of us ended up watching a movie. Alice started ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ then attacked my feet. She put lotion on them, cut the nails and painted the nails.

I knew complaining wouldn’t help me. So I just dealt with it. After the movie was over, Edward gave me a modified tour of the house. He pointed out which doors were whose rooms. We also passed his music room, Carlisle’s study and Esme’s fabric room. The tour ended with Edward’s bedroom. It was huge. One wall was only glass. Another wall was covered from floor to ceiling with CD’s, DVD’s, a flat screen TV and a complex looking music system. I was sacred to go near it, in fear I’d break something or knock everything off the wall. Edward pushed play on his stereo and some nice soft jazz started playing.

“Why don’t you go into my bathroom and change while I change in here?”

I nodded, grabbed my bag and quickly changed. Though, I didn’t want to walk into the room until I knew Edward was changed…at least that was what I was telling myself.

When I left the bathroom, Edward pulled me to the huge bed in the middle of the room. Its frame was made out of rich, dark wood and the bed was covered with a gold comforter. We climbed onto it and laid in the middle. Edward pulled me into his arms. We kissed, though we were more cautious of how deep we took the kisses. The last thing I remembered, before falling into sleep, was Edward humming me to sleep.

The next couple weeks flew by, bringing the first day of school closer and closer. Edward and I got closer then I thought possible. I didn’t want to start going to school, because that meant I would have less time alone with Edward. During those weeks, I also became best friends with Alice and Rosalie. Edward, Jasper, Emmett, Alice, Rose and I were almost joined at the hip. Though we always had time alone with our “significant other,” as friends we would go on triple dates. Stay at one of our homes to watch movies and order in pizza. It felt nice to feel belonged, to have friends who wanted me around and would listen to me. In Phoenix, I never had any close friends.

Edward and I had not quite gone all the way yet. It was nice to wait, but I think I was getting sexually frustrated. We had some heavy make-out sessions, where we would end up with out our shirts, and then we would realize what we were doing. How far we have been getting makes me worry. I want to, but the last thing I want to be is a pregnant senior in high school. This is why I called an emergency girl meeting. The guys were told, rather sternly, they had to hang out with themselves and not us for the day. That caused some grumbling because we started school in three days.

“What’s going on Bella?” Rose asked, from my desk chair.

I sat on my bed and wouldn’t look at her or at Alice. Alice sat next to me on my bed. She scooted next to me and asked Rose’s question in her own way, “What’s up? You can tell us anything.”

Without looking up, I said, “I want to get on some sort of birth control but don’t know how to get it.”

They stared at me then started laughing. “Are you and Edward having sex?” Alice asked.

“No. But we are getting close, so I want to be ready. I am SO not having a kid anytime soon.”

Rose stood up. “All right. Let’s go.”

Confused, I asked, “Go where? Don’t we have to have an appointment where ever I would get birth control?”

“Yeah, but Alice here was pretty sure you would be asking us this question today and set up an appointment with her doctor.” Rose and Alice started walking towards my bedroom door.

“What about Charlie? What am I going to tell him?” I cried. “I can’t say that I am getting birth control!”

“Wow, Bella. You really never had a boyfriend before. Just tell him that your period is irregular and you wanted to get on the pill so you know when you’ll start. Guaranteed Charlie will either go very pale or very red and never bring it up again. He is a dad. He wants to hear nothing about your period. He’ll be so embarrassed, you’ll never have to worry about it again,” Rose stated.

I laughed. I could see my dad getting extremely embarrassed hearing about my period. Nothing more would be said about it. That just leaves me having to deal with Emmett. I am sure he would be much more likely to realize what Edward and I will be doing and want to lock me in my room and bury Edward. What a silly, overprotective older brother.

The three of us took a trip to the hospital. Embarrassingly enough, it was Carlisle who ended up being my doctor. “I thought you worked in the ER!”

“I do work in the ER. But, I only spend half my day there. The other half, I see some patients and do paperwork,” Carlisle explained. “Now what are you here for?”

I blushed a dark red. How was I going to explain to the father of my boyfriend that I wanted to get birth control pills? I wished that Alice and Rose could have been in the room for me so I didn’t have to tell Carlisle what I needed. “I want to get some sort of birth control,” I mumbled, looking down at the toes of my shoes.

Carlisle chuckled. “That’s a good thing, Bella. Glad you came in for some birth control.” Hearing him say this, made me blush even more. “Does Edward know you are getting this?” I shook my head, no. “Does Charlie know?” Once again, I shook my head. “I have a pretty good idea of what you want this for, but does Charlie know that you and Edward are sexually active?”

“Oh! But we aren’t!” I half yelled with a look of shock on my face.

“You aren’t? Well, that’s good. It’s always better to use condoms and the pill. As much as I like you Bella, I don’t want to be a grandfather right now,” Carlisle laughed. I just blushed. “I think you should talk to Charlie about this. Also, talk to Edward.”

After the embarrassing conversation with Carlisle, we finished my appointment and I walked away with a year’s worth of birth control and a box of condoms. Apparently, I can start a condom collection. Rose and Alice told me we were going to go save the boys from their selves. I had to swear them to secrecy. I did not want Edward or Emmett to know where I was until I was ready to tell them. Hopefully, I would never have to tell Emmett, but I am sure I will eventually have to talk to him once Edward and I became…active.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At my house, the six of us were sprawled around the living room. “Edward, Dad says that he and Mom are going out to dinner tonight so we are on our own,” Alice stated.

“When did you talk to Dad? He’s been at work since 7 this morning and he never answers his cell phone while there,” Edward asked.

I stared at Alice, quietly asking her to SHUT UP! “Oh, well, uh…” Alice stuttered. We all laughed at her because she is never at a loss for words, though Rose and I knew why her words were lost.

Finally, I spoke up. “I had a doctor’s appointment today and Rose and Alice took me. Carlisle was the doctor who saw me.”

Edward, whose arms were wrapped tightly around me, nuzzled my neck. We were sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the couches. “Why did you let them come with you? Why couldn’t I go with you?”

“It’s a girl thing I wanted to take care of.”

“A girl thing that my dad knows about? That doesn’t seem fair,” Edward stated.

“Your dad is a doctor. You aren’t. I’ll talk to you more about it later.” Why did I have to say that? Emmett was already staring at me, but that made his eyes narrow at me. He stood up, walked over to me and reached for my arm. “What do you want, Emmett?”

“We are going into the kitchen. Let’s go. Now.”

I groaned. The last thing I wanted was to talk to Emmett about birth control. Granted, I knew he was getting more sex than I was and I knew what sort of birth control him and Rose were using, but that doesn’t mean I want to talk to him about what I was going to be using. Emmett and I walked into the kitchen. I felt Edward staring at me until the kitchen door closed. “What, Emmett?”

“Why didn’t Dad and I know you had a doctor’s appointment today? Don’t you think you should have told us? Are you okay? Are you sick? Is there something wrong? Can I do something to help?” Emmett answered. He started to ask more questions, but I raised my hand to get him to wait.

“Will you stop with all the questions? I can only answer one at a time. I didn’t tell you guys because Alice set it up for me, so I couldn’t have told you. I am fine, I’m not sick. So, nothing is wrong and no, you don’t need to help with anything,” I answered.

Emmett looked at me, crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. “You aren’t telling me something.”

“I answered your questions. I was only telling you what you wanted to know.”

“Fine. Why did you need an appointment?”

I groaned. “What if I don’t want to tell you?”

“HOLY SHIT! YOU’RE PREGANT!” Emmett yelled.

My eyes got huge and I heard feet running towards the kitchen. Edward came up to me and stared at me. “What?” he whispered.

“Thanks Emmett. I am not pregnant! I went to get birth control!”

I turned around and pushed past everyone and ran up to my bedroom. I slammed the door shut. I couldn’t believe that is what Emmett thought I was at the hospital. I put on some music and threw myself on my bed. My bedroom door opened softly and shut again. The last thing I wanted was to talk to Emmett again. “Bella?” It was Edward. I didn’t turn towards his voice. I was way too embarrassed about what, even for a moment, he thought. Cause if I was pregnant, he would know that it couldn’t be his child. I felt him sit on my bed. “What’s wrong, love?”

When I wouldn’t answer him, Edward laid down next to me and put one of his arms on top of my waist. He just stayed next to me, stroking my hair, rubbing my back. A little bit of everything. After a couple of minutes, I started to realize I felt guilty for not talking to Edward. He was my closest friend. He was comforting me, even though he had no idea of what was going through my head. Slowly, I rolled around, so I was facing him.

I looked him in the eyes, which could have been a mistake, because I immediately felt lost in them. Edward smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I responded. “How are you doing?”

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack earlier, after hearing what Emmett said,” Edward answered. His arm was still over my waist and was slowly rubbing my lower back with his hand. “Why didn’t you tell me that you wanted to get birth control?”

I gave him a small smile. “I was embarrassed. I didn’t know if you wanted to wanted me to get on it.” I blushed. “You haven’t made a move to take our kisses any further. You always make us stop. How do I know if you want me like that or not?”

Edward laughed. “How can I not want you like that? I just didn’t know if you wanted me.”

Our conversation continued about what we wanted and when we wanted to start having sex. It seems like we were both thinking nonstop about sex (yeah, yeah, typical teenagers) but never brought it up with the other person. We talked for hours, never wanting to leave the others presence. Our goodbye only happened when Charlie popped his head into my room and calmly stated it was time for Edward to leave. It was nice; Charlie always gave us a ten to fifteen minute warning. Like he knew we wanted to have a personal goodbye. We filled our personal good-bye with one of our kisses, knowing within the near future we would be scratching our itches.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t want to go to school,” I groaned to Emmett and Charlie Monday morning. “I don’t want to be awake right now.”

Emmett just laughed at me. “It’s our senior year, Bells! It is suppose to be exciting. Prom, graduation, parties…”

“Homework, tests, PE,” I threw back at him.

“PE is only your problem. Only you could hurt yourself while waking on flat ground.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Well, I am taking off. I promised Rose I would give her a ride to school.”
“What about me? Why should we take two cars to school?” I asked.

“Edward is giving you, Alice and Jasper a ride. Didn’t he tell you that yesterday?”

“Maybe…”

Emmett laughed at my confused look. He went upstairs to finish getting ready because Rose didn’t live to close to us and was not near the school. When he came back down, shouted goodbye, and when he grabbed his backpack and coat. I ran upstairs to finish getting ready. I brushed my teeth, made sure my clothes matched, then the doorbell rang. I ran down the stairs, tripping on the last stair, falling. I landed on the rug in front of the door, which skidded me part way into the living room.

Edward opened the door and looked down at me on the floor. He quickly walked over and crouched next to me. “Are you all right?” he asked, worried.

I smiled up at him. “All is normal in Bella-Land.”

Edward laughed at me. Once on my feet, we walked hand in hand to his silver Volvo. Alice and Jasper were in the back seat. Alice was leaning against Jasper, her eye closed and her body was relaxed. Japer had his arms around her, keeping her close to him. He smiled at me when he saw that I was looking at him and Alice. I smiled back.

It only took us ten minutes to drive to school. The entire drive I was fidgeting, quiet and nervous. As much as I loved being in Forks, I didn’t want to feel like starting all over at a school the year that I graduate. Edward kept saying little reassuring things, holding my hands and he had made sure the Wailin’ Jennys were in the stereo to help calm me down. Nothing seemed to work. Once we arrived at school, the four of us went into the main office to pick up our schedules. Edward and I had all but 2 classes together. We didn’t have 1st or 2nd together. Alice and Jasper had every class together; they were in 5 of my classes and 3 of Edwards. It made me feel better that I had every class with someone I knew.

Edward walked me to my first class, kissed me quickly, and then walked to his class. I went inside and sat down. Who would give anyone Calculus first period? Talk about pure torture! “Hello, gorgeous. You must be new. I’m James.”

I looked towards the voice. James was…cute, I guess. Nothing compared to Edward. “I’m Bella,” I responded with a slight smile.

“It’s a pleasure. It’s nice to have same fresh meat in this school.”

“I’m Bella,” I responded with a slight smile.

“It’s a pleasure. It’s nice to have same fresh meat in this school.”

I couldn’t believe James just said that to me. How could any guy say that to a girl? I was disgusted. I looked around, there were only a few people in the class and it didn’t seem like they heard what he said to me. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just grabbed my backpack and moved to another chair. James got up to follow me. “Don’t run away, Bella. I just want to get to know you a little better.” I sat down in a new seat and James was blocking me in.

“No, thanks, James. I don’t want to get to know you.”

James leaned towards me and started to stroke my face with his fingers. I jerked away from him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me partially out of my seat. Frightened, I had no idea what to do. I froze. I just stood there, staring up at him with my eyes wide. James took the chance of moving his body closer to mine. He pulled on my arm so I closer to him and leaned his face down towards me. I tried getting my face out of the way, but wasn’t quick enough and didn’t have enough room to move. But his lips landed on my cheek instead of my mouth.

The thought of him kissing me, even just on the cheek, jump-started my brain. I couldn’t do a lot with my arms because I was sitting down. I couldn’t punch him in the groin, because of the angle James was standing at. My foot left the floor and slammed into his shin. He only flinched, but it was something. I raised my leg again to continue kicking him.

“Get the hell away from my sister,” I heard Emmett say angrily. Emmett grabbed James shoulder and shoved him into a desk. “If you touch her again, I swear I will castrate you myself. Got it?” James backed away from Emmett as Emmett knelt by my desk. He took hand in his hand. “Bella? Are you all right? Look at me.” I looked at my brother. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m all right. Just a little shook up.” Emmett smiled at me and sat down at the desk next to mine. When Alice and Jasper sat down, I looked around and saw that the room was full. Which meant that they all saw what Emmett did to James and probably most of what James did to me. I leaned over the aisle and whispered to Emmett, “Don’t tell Edward.”

Emmett glared at me. “You won’t be able to keep this from him, Bella. James has a big mouth, so do other people in this class. Even with me shoving him, he’ll run his mouth. Someone will tell Edward something, even though no one really knows your dating yet. Plus, this school is small. You, Edward and James will be in at least one class together, I can almost guarantee it.”

I groaned. I didn’t want Edward to know what James said to me. “It’ll be better if you told Edward in the first class you guys have together,” Alice told me.

I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to tell Edward, or even how to tell him. Our teacher finally started the classroom; he hadn’t been in the room during the James incident. I tried to keep focused on class and not think about what happened or how Edward would react. I knew that Edward would react badly. Though we’d been dating for roughly a month, we were closest of friends.

The first day of math class we had homework. We couldn’t get broken in gently. No. God, I hate math class. So starting my first day at Forks High School with math and the James incident were the worst things that could have happened.

Finally, calculus, the class from hell, was over. I grabbed my backpack and walked out of the class with my brother and friends. Emmett, thinking James would strike again, walked me to my second period class: English. Now, this was a class I am all right with. I want to study literature and journalism in college. Plus, having English without Edward meant that I could think of what to say about James…if he hadn’t all ready heard about it. Word traveled fast in the high school I went to in Phoenix. In a school as small as Forks High, word would probably travel faster.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Edward met me outside of my English class. Just looking at him, I could tell he had already heard what had happened during calculus. I walked out of the classroom and straight to him. He gently placed his hands on my face and stared into my eyes. “Are you all right? Did James hurt you?”

“I’m fine Edward. Nothing really happened.”

I knew Edward did not fully believe me, but he let it drop. We walked together to our third period class. The first person we saw was James. “Well, hello again, beautiful,” he said to me.

“Leave me alone James or I’ll make sure you never have children.” My voice was strong. Having Edward near me made me feel like I could do anything.

James laughed. “So feisty and tough now. How strange. I thought you would be tougher with your big brother to protect you.”

“Emmett isn’t my big brother,” I said smiling. “He’s younger than me.” Edward squeezed my hand and chuckled. I looked at him sideways and saw he was smirking his lopsided smile.

“Well, with no one to protect you, I can do whatever I want with you. Maybe you could give me a ride,” James said in a tone that was supposed to be seductive. Edward leapt forward and was going to hit James. I simply put a hand on his arm and shook my head. “Oh? Edward Cullen is your protector? Well I can easily take care of that.” James approached Edward and took a swing.

“James!” Mr. Davis, the social studies teacher called out. “How nice to see you are improving your attitude from last year! Come up to my desk please.”

I turned towards Edward and inspected his jaw. “That was stupid. You don’t need to be so protective.”

“But, Bella…”

“No buts Edward. I know you care about me, but I don’t to see you get hurt because of me,” I said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After school, Edward dropped Alice and Jasper off at Jasper’s house, and then he drove us to my house. As we had planned the day before, we walked straight to the dinning room table and did the majority of our homework. I appreciated that Edward and I had decided to do this. It put off talking about James a little bit longer.

It was amazing the amount of homework we both had even though it was only the first day of school. For a couple classes, all Edward and I had to do was fill out some questionnaires so the teachers could get to know us better. But, I had a page of calculus homework to do, which was irritating. My math teacher wanted to get a feel of where our math skills were. I thought I would lose my mind. I could barely do any of the problems. Edward had to help me. He was taking trigonometry the period I had English. Since we did not have a lot of homework, it didn’t take us long to do.

Just as Edward and I were putting all of our schoolwork back into our bags, Charlie came in, fuming. “Isabella Marie Swan!”

I looked at Charlie startled. He never called me by my full name. “What, Dad?”

“How come you didn’t call me?”

“Call you about what?” I asked confused.

“James. That is something I need to know about,” Dad stated. His face was getting really red and he was breathing rapidly.

“Dad, calm down. I didn’t talk to you about it because Emmett talked to him and Mr. Davis took him to the principal.”

“Yes. He is the one who called me to report it. It was very disconcerting to get a call from the principal on the first day you are in school and hear that another classmate had assaulted you. Are you all right?”

“Dad I’m fine. I’ve told Emmett that. I’ve told Edward that. I’ve told the nurse and the principal that. I am all right.” I was tired of having to explain to everyone that I was okay. That James just tried to hurt me. He didn’t succeed in doing what he tried to do.

“Well, if you’re sure. If he does anything at all, let me know. If he looks at you funny, I want you to call me.”

“Don’t worry, Dad. Now, will you calm down? Do you want me to make you dinner?” I asked. I hoped he would say no so I could spend time alone with Edward, but I also hoped he said yes so I wouldn’t be alone with Edward.

“I’m not really hungry. I’ll just make myself some soup and a sandwich.”

I laughed. “We’ll be upstairs. So if the house starts burning down, I’ll know it was the soup.”

I stood up and pulled Edward up with me. Edward held onto my hand as if I would float away if he didn’t keep a good hold on me. On the way to the stairs, I think Charlie mumbled, “My cooking skills aren’t THAT bad,” which made me laugh even harder.

Once in my room, Edward put on some music, and then pulled me to my bed. Before sitting down on the bed, he pulled me into a very tight hug. He buried his head into my hair and just breathed. I ran my hands up and down his back, thinking he needed to be comforted for some reason. “I wanted to hurt him,” Edward whispered. “I never wanted to hurt anyone before. But when I heard what he said to you during math and then what he said in Mr. Davis’ class, I wanted to beat him up.” He took a big breath and looked me in the eye. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“No,” I whispered.

With that, I pulled him down onto my bed. Edward and I just held each other, not talking about anything truly important. It felt nice to feel like I no longer had to deal with James and his problems. Since the principal and the police were involved, James would be in trouble. With Edward, Emmett and Jasper, I am sure James would not come near me again.

The next couple of months flew by. James was no longer a problem, at least not that I knew of. Every once in a while Emmett, Jasper and Edward would gather together and talk, and I’m sure it was not to talk about the weather. I was still sexually frustrated. Edward kept saying that he didn’t want to push me, but, honestly, it was the other way around. I wanted it and he kept backing away. If I could only tell what he was thinking, why he was pulling away from having sex with me, I might understand.

During the week, Edward and I fell into a routine. We went to school, went to my house and did our homework, I cooked dinner for myself, and Charlie and Emmett while Edward went home. Edward and I hardly had any time alone during the weekdays because Charlie generally came home right when Edward and I were finishing our homework. On Friday nights Charlie generally went to Black’s or the Clearwater’s to watch whatever game was on TV. Emmett and I invited our friends over for dinner, a movie and some games. The six of us would generally end up crashing at our house.

Charlie often grumbled about finding Edward in my bed and the two of us wrapped around each other. But, given the fact we were always fully clothed, he couldn’t complain too much. Though Charlie got along fairly well with Edward, Charlie said he reserved the right to give any boyfriend of mine glares. I have decided that my father was just a little crazy.

Saturdays I would spend with Edward at his house. Alice and Jasper were generally there as well. It was nice because I ate dinner over there, which meant I didn’t have to cook. Sundays I reserved for homework and housecleaning. I honestly don’t know how Charlie and Emmett did laundry before I moved in. They would let it pile up for weeks. They would probably buy new underwear before cracking open the washer. Doing the laundry took me almost all day. I cleaned the kitchen, the dining room and the living room, but I made Emmett clean the bathroom. I threatened him with Charlie’s cooking if he didn’t clean it. The threat worked pretty well. It was sparkling on every Sunday.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a Thursday night. It was almost the weekend, which always gets me excited. Not only was in almost the weekend, but we only have 6 days of school left before winter break. True it means the weather has gotten colder and has been snowing on and off (ew!), but it also means that Christmas is coming! We had a little over two weeks before the big holiday.

That night, I had made chicken enchiladas for dinner so I could get Emmett to stop begging me for “non-taco Mexican.” Charlie was acting a little weird. He kept moving his food around his plate, but rarely took a bite. “Dad, what is up with you?” Emmett asked.

Charlie looked up at us. “Well, as you know, Christmas break is coming up in a couple of weeks. On Monday, Renee called at the station and said she wanted the two of you in Florida for Christmas.”

Emmett and I looked at each other, then at Charlie. Neither one of us had any contact with our mother since I moved to Forks. Renee was an unspoken name in our house. “You mean, the woman who was going to kick me out of the house, wants to spend time with us?” I asked.

Charlie nodded. “I told her it was up to the two of you. You are no longer children. You are both 18.”

“I’m not going,” Emmett stated. I agreed.

“Good. I’ll call her back and let her know you two are staying here.”

That simple, yet emotional (for me) conversation quickly solved our winter break vacation plans. I was surprised that Renee even thought about having Emmett and me for Christmas. She hadn’t even seen Emmett in at least five years. It was hard to imagine what was going through Renee’s mind when she told Charlie she wanted her children in Florida. Neither Emmett nor I thought of her as our mother.

After dinner Emmett and I washed all the dishes. I had firmly stated I wasn’t going to be cooking and doing all of the dishes. So, Emmett was recruited. I do have to admit, less dishes are being broken since I wasn’t in charge of drying and putting away. I just had to wash, rinse and place in the rinse sink. We were just finishing cleaning the kitchen, when my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. “Hey, Alice. What’s going on?”

“We are going to have a holiday party a week from Saturday. So you better be ready for that. The six of us are going to sleep over here, exchange presents, play games, sing carols and all that fun stuff. So…keep that day free.”

“Yes, Alice. Emmett and I will come bearing presents. Let us know if you want us to bring anything else.””

I heard some muffled voices on the other end. “No, you can’t talk to her because I am talking to her.” Alice was quiet for a moment; I couldn’t make out whom she was talking to. “Since when does boyfriend trump best friend, Edward?” more mumbling, Edward must be telling her something. “Bella, you’re boyfriend is being a royal pain in my ass. I will talk to you tomorrow. Edward, you can freaking call her on your own cell phone. Bella, see you in math?”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you then,” I smiled.

“Edward is going to call you right when we hang up. Yes, Edward, because I need my phone. I happen to be dating someone as well. Bella, love ya, see you tomorrow.” I just laughed at her as I hung up.

Emmett looked at me, with his eyebrow raised. “We are going to the Cullen’s a week from Saturday with everyone. Bring presents.” My phone rang again. “Night, brother bear! Hi Edward!”

I grabbed my backpack and started walking to my room, with my phone on my ear. “Yes, Edward, I know that your sister is strange.”

“Why can’t I ever just talk to you without my sister butting in?” Edward asked, jokingly.

“It’s not my fault I am dating you and friends with her. Plus, she called me before you called me. So she had dibs on me talking to her first,” I responded, smiling. “You’re just going to have to deal with the fact I talk with other people, silly.”

I heard Edward take a deep breath. “Can I ask you something serious?”

“Sure.”

“What do you want for Christmas?”

“I don’t want you spending money on me. So, something simple.”

“Bella! That doesn’t help me. What do you want?” Edward asked me again.

I sighed. “Fine. How about a CD of you playing the piano? I know you’ve given Esme one. That is what I want.”

Edward groaned. “There has to be something else that I can get you. Can’t I spend a little bit of money on you? Please.”

“No.”

EPOV (I know! SHOCK!)

“Why can’t I spend any money on you?” It wasn’t the first time I have begged and pleaded with Bella to let me spend money on her. She left Alice buy her clothes and only complained about the long hours she was forced to spend in dressing rooms. If I bought her anything, even something as simple as paying for diner or a movie ticket, Bella freaked out.

“Cause I can’t get you anything as nice as you could get me. Can’t you just get used to the fact that I just want to be with you? That is all I want for Christmas. You.”

“You already have me, Bella.”

I heard her groan in frustration. “I have to go,” I heard her whisper. “Charlie just came in and gave me the time’s up sign. Miss you. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night, love.”

Bella was being infuriating. I wanted to give her something very special for

Christmas, but she wouldn’t let me because she refused to let me spend money on her. What is wrong with me wanting to spend money on my girlfriend? I thought that girls wanted their boyfriends to spend money on them, to shower them with gifts.

After my conversation with Bella, I started pacing around my bedroom. I knew what Bella wanted me to give her. What she wanted would be easy for me to give. I also knew two things I wanted to give her. Both of those things I would need help with. I smiled. I was just about to make Alice’s day.

I walked out of my bedroom and walked down the hallway. Though I knew Alice was going to talk to Jasper, I was hoping she was off the phone with him. I desperately needed her help. I knocked on her door. “WHAT?” she yelled.

“It’s me.”

“Go away,” Alice stated.

“Fine. I guess I’ll just go shopping by myself on Saturday. No sweat off my back.” I started walking away from Alice’s door. Within seconds I heard her door slam open.

“Where do you think you’re going, mister?” Alice said. “You can’t go shopping without me. It’s against the rules.”

I smiled. Alice was so easy to con into helping me. “One, it’s not against any rules and two, I was going back to my room because you told me to go away.”

Alice bounced over to me, grabbed my hand and pulled me into her bedroom. You could tell it was her room. It screamed Alice. She pulled me until we reached the bed. “Sit. Tell me what you want to shop for. Clothes? Shoes? A new bedspread?”

I laughed. “No, you are way off. I want to get Bella a Christmas present. A necklace, but will need some help making sure I choose the right sort of thing. So you will be the one to make sure it is classy enough, yet toned down enough for Bella not to freak. But I will have the final say.”

Alice started bouncing up and down on the bed, so excited over the fact of going shopping, especially going shopping for jewelry. “Will you promise not to tell Bella? I want it to be a surprise. Plus, I promised her I wouldn’t spend any money on her.”

“Of course I won’t tell her. I want to be able to see her face when she first sees it! I can’t wait! Edward, this is so exciting. Do we have to wait until Saturday? Why can’t we do it tomorrow after school?”

“Because tomorrow after school, I am hanging out with Bella.”

Alice beamed at me as I got up and walked out of her room. I just needed to start planning my other gift to her. It would hard to arrange the second gift I wanted to give her. It had to be perfect, to be special. Also, I had to plan everything so I wouldn’t end up getting killed.

I was frantic. It was December 23 and I had yet to buy Edward a Christmas present. I had one for Charlie, Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Jasper. But I have nothing to give to my own boyfriend. Rose and Alice had dragged me to Port Angeles in hopes I could find something there. Plus, they wanted to get me a dress for our Christmas Eve party. I had, rather angrily, told them they were not getting me into a dressing room until I found the gift for Edward.

After some searching, I found a music store. Though I knew I couldn’t buy him a CD since I wasn’t 100% sure of what he owned, I was hoping something would jump out at me. I walked towards the back of the store where I saw the sheet music, vaguely aware that Rose and Alice were browsing through the aisles of CD’s. I picked up different books by many different artists, but none of them seemed right. As I put down a Beethoven book, I saw a book with a bright blue cover, but no writing on it. I picked it up to see what kind of music it held and found that it was full of blank sheets of music.

“This is it,” I squealed, waving it around over my head.

Rose and Alice saw and heard me and came over to check it out. “Finally, Bells. I thought you would have to resort to giving just a card and a kiss,” Rose muttered.

“You’re just mad because I kept you away from the clothes,” I giggled. I had the urge to skip up to the cashier; I was so happy that I found something I knew Edward would enjoy. Luckily for me I saved the three of us from embarrassment.

Before I knew what was happening, I was going on a whirlwind tour of all the dress shops, and their dressing rooms, that happened in be in Port Angeles. I was disgusted by the amount of dresses that Alice and Rose were able to throw at me. It was a horrible, horrible nightmare. I wanted it to end. We spent, what felt like decades, but could have only been a couple hours trying to find the perfect dress for the three of us too wear the next night. I was some what surprised that Alice and Rose hadn’t bought dresses for themselves and me yet.

We all finally found a dress we liked. I had to argue with Rose and Alice over several of the options, because they showed too much. Though the one I found showed more than I normally would have liked, I loved it. It was a light blue, showed off my cleavage, which I was surprised that I had and went to my knees. Roses dress was black with a halter style top and was planning on hemming the bottom herself tonight because she wanted to show more leg. I am not even sure how to describe Alice’s dress. It was bright red and showed off most of her back.

Once the three of us put our dresses and Edward’s gift safely in the car, we walked to lunch, a little hole in the wall Mexican place. We were shown to our seats and our waiter brought our Cokes out to us. After we pondered the menu, he came back to ask us what we wanted.

“I’ll have the chicken burrito with no sour cream,” Rose asked. The waiter nodded.

“I want the chicken enchiladas,” Alice asked.

“I also want a chicken burrito,” I ordered.

The waiter lingered at our table. After a couple of awkward minutes of him standing at the head of our table, Rose coughed and stared at him, hinting he should leave. He left, sulking slightly. We looked at each other and laughed. “So, Bella, how come I hardly get to see you anymore?” Alice pouted.

“Alice, you see me at school every day. We see each other on Friday nights, Saturdays, and generally Sundays as well. How can you hardly see me?” I asked.

“Well, you are always with Edward. How come I never get to see you without my annoying brother around?” Alice responded.

“Or your annoying brother around?” Rose added right when I took a drink of my pop.

I started coughing on the liquid in my throat. “Isn’t my annoying brother your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“If you guys wanted girl time, away from the guys, you could have just asked me. I wouldn’t have minded to spend time with you. As long as you didn’t want to go shopping every time you wanted to hang out,” I answered. It was true. We rarely got time as just “the girls,” though we all loved spending time together. “Let’s start doing it after Christmas. Maybe doing lunch on Saturdays or something.”

Alice squealed and gave me a huge side hug. “You are wonderful!”

“All cause I want to spend time with a crazy, spiky haired pixie?”

“Cause we get to hang out and do girly things we can’t really do with the guys! Manicures, pedicures, haircuts, sappy movies! It’ll be great, Bella!”

“Also, don’t forget that it’ll be time to have make-up tips, clothes tips and just girl talk. The guys are great, but they don’t fully comprehend the true meaning of chocolate. Plus, we can’t talk about how well they do things if they are in the room. Then we can also tell each other which positions work well, which ones don’t,” Rose chimed in.

I stared at her, not fully understanding what she was talking about. Of course, the annoying little waiter came with our food, so I couldn’t ask her about positions. “If you need anything, anything at all, please, let me know. I am available for anything,” he told us, looking only at our chests.

“We won’t be needing anything else,” I stated, glaring at him. He slowly backed away from our table. Once he was fully out of hearing range, I looked back at Rose, my expression changed from slightly pissed off to somewhat confused. “So, what are you talking about, positions? Positions of what?”

Rose looked ate me, with her mouth wide open. “Are you serious? Do you really have no idea what I am talking about?” I, embarrassingly, shook my head, thinking that she was talking about something I should know about. As I waited for an explanation, I started eating my burrito. “Alice, she doesn’t know what I’m talking about!”

Alice sadly shook her head. “And here I thought that Bella and Edward were constantly having sex.”

I chocked on a piece of chicken and turned bright red. “How did we get from talking about positions of something to sex?”

“You are so out of it Bella! I had no idea you were so naïve. We were talking about sexual positions. Haven’t you and Edward been experimenting with things?” Alice asked.

I blushed an even deeper red. “Well…you see…about that…Edward and I haven’t actually done anything yet,” I whispered. “I’ve been trying to get him in bed with me, but he keeps refusing.”

When I finally got the nerve to look up at Rose and Alice, they were staring at me. “What do you mean, you and Edward haven’t had sex yet? We got you on birth control months ago! Was that just for show?” Rose asked.

“It’s not my fault! I’ve been wanting to for a while, but he keeps backing away.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that we got you that dress for tomorrow night. He’ll be tripping over his own tongue once he sees you in it,” Alice told me.

The rest of our lunch conversation was about different positions. I wanted to listen, but at the same time I wanted to cover my ears. If I thought too hard about it, I realized that Rose was telling me about sex positions she was in with my brother. Those were disturbing thoughts that should not be in my brain! I couldn’t stop listening though. I wanted to know. I wanted to be doing those things to Edward.

After lunch, we went to a bookstore, which thrilled me. Alice and Rose told me to go and browse, they wanted to pick up a couple last minute things for their parents. I went straight to the classics. My copy of Pride and Prejudice was almost unreadable. Not only have I owned it for years, but also I accidentally dropped it in the bathtub. Once I grabbed a new copy, and a copy of Mansfield Park, I went to go find Alice and Rose.

Meanwhile…EPOV

Alice and Rose had taken Bella to go shopping. It was hard to be away from her. I knew that she wanted to spend time with her other friends, and that they wanted more time with her, but I missed being near her. Especially since Christmas break had begun, Bella and I were almost inseparable. Every other night, she would be spending the night at my house; her father did not know that Bella slept in my bed, not in Alice’s room. Though Bella and I didn’t do anything, I am sure Charlie would not like us sharing a bed at night.

After Alice left the house this morning, Emmett and Jasper came over so we could finish our Christmas shopping. Though I was pretty much done, I wanted to get Bella something else and I needed to pick up the necklace that I ordered the pervious week with Alice. I wanted Christmas to be perfect for Bella. Though we’d been dating for only three months, I felt like I knew her all my life and I will always want her near me. “What are you brooding about?” Emmett asked.

We were driving down to Port Angeles, where the jewelry store was that I had to go to. “Just thinking about Bella,” I responded.

“Dude…just stop right there. I don’t really want to know what is going on in your brain about my sister.” Jasper laughed. “What? Why are you laughing at me?”

“You are just so dense sometimes, Emmett,” Jasper told him, and then I started laughing. Jasper obviously knew that Bella and I were not sexually active. How? I don’t know. It was also obvious that Emmett thought that Bella and I were. Which, I couldn’t blame him. He knew Bella was on birth control.

Emmett looked at me, in the drivers seat, and then turned in his seat to look at Jasper sitting in the back seat. “What the hell is going on?”

“They haven’t had sex yet,” Jasper informed him.

“What? Why the hell not? There something wrong with my sister?” Emmett asked.

I just smiled, not really wanting to have this conversation with him, but I knew if I didn’t answer him, he’d get it out of me eventually. “Cause I want to make sure we are both ready. There is nothing wrong with your sister. I want to make sure that there will be nothing wrong with her after we have sex. Now, can we stop talking about my sex life?”

Instead of talking about my sex life, they decided to talk about theirs. It was hard to hear what Jasper was saying, when he did speak up, because I didn’t want to hear about what my sister has done. I have to admit, it was a little scary to realize all the things my sister has done, that I haven’t. Well, all the positions my sister has done that I haven’t. I just kept my mouth shut, especially when I heard things that I didn’t think were possible.

Once we got into Port Angeles, I drove straight to the jewelry store. I was excited to pick up the necklace that I got. Once I bought it and walked out of the store, I opened the box to look at it, to make sure everything was perfect. It was a silver necklace with a key pendent. On one side of the key I read the words that I had the jeweler engrave: To Bella- you hold the key to my heart. It was perfect.

Japer and Emmett needed to pick up some things at a bookstore. I wondered around and saw several bookcases with filled with the classics. I smiled, thinking of Bella. That would be the perfect addition. A book. I knew that she wanted more books than she had, but could never warrant buying them for herself. After several minutes of careful debate, I picked up Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I knew it was a book Bella always wanted to read. I picked up two copies…a hardbound copy and a cheaper, paperback copy. I stared at them, undecided of which copy to buy. Emmett and Jasper came up to me and saw what I was debating over.

“The hardbound one looks cooler, but knowing Bella, it’d be better to get her the paperback,” Emmett stated. I agreed, though I really did like the hardbound copy. Maybe for another celebration.

We were able to quickly go though the little city of Port Angeles and purchase the rest of the gifts. I knew Rose and Alice would get…upset if they knew their boyfriends waited until the last minute to buy their gifts. Personally, why does it matter? The gifts are being given, no matter when they are bought.

Emmett and Jasper wanted to keep looking at stuff, wondering if they were missing something they could have bought. I was anxious. Bella was coming over to my house after she was finished shopping. I wanted to get home and be there when she got there. I knew that the girls had left for Port Angeles several hours before we did.

BPOV

I couldn’t wait until I saw Edward. It felt like it had been weeks since we had seen each other instead of a day and a half. After Alice, Rose and I ate lunch, they decided I need new shoes. I groaned. All I wanted to do was get back to Forks. “Why do I need to buy shoes? I have those flats you two made me get a month ago. Can’t I just wear those?”

“Bella, darling, those shoes are dark blue. You dress is turquoise. Talk about clashing,” Rose stated, horrified. She pulled me towards a shoe store. “Now, I was thinking about something like this.” Rose picked up a pretty black shoe with a good two-inch heel.

I shook my head. “It’s cute. But, why are you trying to make me kill myself?”

Alice and Rose laughed. “Right. Okay. What about this?”

I sat down on one of the chairs in the chose store while Rose and Alice went in search for shoes. I rejected every single pair. Finally, I stood up and looked around. I found a simple black flat with a black bow on it. I showed it to the girls and they told me I could wear it with the dress we had bought earlier that day. Once done with shoe shopping, I was finally able to leave. Only a little bit longer until I was able to see Edward again.

We finally got to my house. The three of us brought all of my things inside. They helped me wrap Edward’s present, the new tackle box I bought for Charlie, and the video games I got for Emmett. It was fun to spend a little extra time with Alice and Rose, time that didn’t involve shopping. After presents were wrapped, we were finally going to the Cullen’s house.

I was so excited that I ran out to Alice’s car and slipped on a patch of ice. Luckily, I landed butt first, instead of face first. “If we bring you to my house broken, Edward won’t let us play with you anymore,” Alice called out from the porch. I just muttered about stupid ice and stupid snow and just wanting to see my freaking boyfriend. Alice and Rose came over to me, helped me stand up and got me safely in the car.

When we got to the Cullen’s driveway, I was bouncing up and down in my seat. “Don’t hurt yourself getting into the house, now, Bella,” Rose stated. I just grinned over at her, grabbed my bag and slowly walked into the house. I just needed to see him. I heard Rose tell Alice, “You wouldn’t think that our boyfriends are in there as well. Nope, just hers.”

It surprised me when I went into the house, and no one could be seen or heard. I shrugged and walked upstairs to Edward’s bedroom. I figured if he wasn’t at home, I might as well make myself comfortable. That is when I heard their voices—Jasper, Edward and Emmett—were all in Edward’s room. I crept closer to hear what they were talking about. “Edward, really, just take them!” Jasper insisted.

I wish I could see what they were trying to give Edward, but I couldn’t see through the door. “Why do I need these?” Edward asked.

“Because you and Bella will be doing something at some point and why leave it to her to remember to bring her box…or to remember where she hid it?” Emmett told him. I giggled.

Thankfully they didn’t hear me, as least I hope not, but I decided that I would let Edward off the hook. I knew how Emmett was when he was trying to give you a box of condoms. “Hey guys! Hope you guys had a lot of fun without me,” I said as I walked through the door. Edward was off his bed and hugging me before I could finish my sentence. I laughed. “Miss me much?”

“Of course I missed you silly,” Edward murmured into my ear. He leaned down to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer and to deepen the kiss.

“Hey! What do you two think you are doing? No kissing of the sister when I am still in the room. I thought that we had an agreement,” Emmett complained.

“I’ve had to see you suck my sister’s face down your throat too many times to count. How come Edward has to follow that ‘agreement’ but you don’t?” Jasper asked.

“Let’s not point fingers,” Edward added, looking at Jasper.

“You three are so silly. If you guys wouldn’t date your best friend’s sisters, this would not be a problem,” I added.

“Well, none of us are willing to give up our girlfriends or our friendships. So, we just deal with the fact that we will see things we don’t want to see,” Edward told me.

“Alice and Rose are downstairs…all alone…by themselves,” I said. Jasper and Emmett were out of the room in a flash, leaving Edward and I alone in his room. I smiled up at him. “I missed you.” Edward pulled me into another tight hug. We spent the night together.

Christmas Eve

I went home to get ready for the Christmas Eve party, but also to spend some time with Charlie. I felt like I was spending more time with my friends than with my own father. Of course, he was fine with it, because that meant that he was able to spend time with Billy Black and Harry Clearwater and not feel guilty about it. I forcefully told Charlie that I was making him lunch and there was nothing he could do about it. He laughed.

“Bella, you know I am always here for you, right?” Charlie asked.

It wasn’t a question I expected. “Of course, Dad.”

“So, you would tell me if you…needed anything?”

“What?” I asked, not fully understanding what he was trying to tell me.

“That if you needed something that you didn’t want to get by yourself, I would go with you, right? Or just go by myself and get it?” Charlie became more confusing. He never was a man of many words. So, when he wanted to express himself, it was hard. When he saw my confused look, Charlie went on. “I know you and Edward are getting close. If you guys start…you know, I want you protected.”

I blushed. We were having the sex talk. Charlie wanted to talk to me about sex. With Edward. “Dad…we aren’t doing anything yet. Carlisle helped me get on birth control…Emmett bought me a box of condoms.”

“Well if you ever need something else, just let me know.”

“I want to not talk about this, please!”

Charlie laughed at me. “Fine with me.” We ate the rest of our lunch in comfortable silence. It was nice to be with him and to not feel the pressure to have to talk. Once I cleaned up after lunch, I headed to the bathroom to get ready for the party. Alice told me I was to be at her house at 5 or else she would make me wear high heels. I laughed at her for making threats.

It took me a couple of hours to get ready because I knew if I didn’t arrive up to Alice’s standards, she would drag me into a bathroom and lock me up there for at least another hour. Being away from Edward for any amount of time tonight was not in my plans. So, I straightened my hair, and then flipped the ends out. I put on some make-up. I didn’t want to put on a lot, because it didn’t feel natural.

When I was finally ready, I walked down to the living room, with a bag of presents in one hand and my overnight bag in the other. Charlie let out a low whistle and I looked up at him, blushing. “Are you sure you are okay with Emmett and I going over to the Cullen’s tonight?”

“Bella, I want you guys to spend Christmas Eve with your friends. You two will be over here for most of tomorrow anyway,” Charlie replied. “Beside, Sue and Harry invited me over for dinner.”

I slowly walked out to my truck, which I have barely used since moving to Forks, climbed into the cab and started to drive over to the Cullen’s. Once I reached the front door, Edward had opened it and then he couldn’t move. His mouth was hanging open. It was funny to see him at a loss for words. “You are beautiful, Bella,” Edward finally managed to get out.

It was strange to have a party with only six people there. Carlisle and Esme had made dinner reservations and wouldn’t be back until midnight or later. They told us, “don’t bother waiting up.” The six of us did our present exchange and I cried when Edward gave me my necklace. It was beautiful. I decided I was not going to be mad at him for spending money on me, especially since he gave me the CD of him playing the piano as he promised. Edward was ecstatic with the sheet music. I could see him reading the note I wrote on the first page of the music.

Dear Edward-

You mean the world to me. You are my best friend. My boyfriend. My everything. I wish you all the joy you could possibly find on this earth.

Yours,

Bella

Edward’s arm snaked around my waist and hugged me to him. “Thank you, Bella. You are my world.”

After spending hours together as a group of friends, eating dinner, opening presents, watching movies, Edward took me upstairs to his room. He opened the door and I was stunned. The room was full of different flowers. Roses, daises, irises, mums, and others I couldn’t even name. It was beautiful. There was soft light coming from his the two lamps by his bed.

Edward pulled me towards the bed, softly kissing my lips at the same time. Once I was sitting on the bed, Edward knelt down in front of me. “Bella, I have one more Christmas present for you. This is the only present you can say you don’t want. You really are my world. You have brightened up my life. I would love to make love to you.”

I had tears going down my face. “Yes,” I replied, my voice shaking. Edward stood up. Though I wasn’t sure how we ended up underneath his comforter without our clothes on, and music softly planning in the background, but we did. Edward and I shared kisses and touches before we took the next big step in our relationship. It was beautiful.

Christmas Eve was wonderful. I never thought it would be like that. Though I never thought I would admit it, I am glad that Rose and Alice forced the sex talk on me. It proved useful. Edward and I, though we fumbled a little bit, both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was something that we regularly did now…well, for the past week.

Everyday Edward would come over to my house and bring me a stack of college applications. On Christmas Eve, after we had sex, I had told Edward my dream of going off to college, studying English and becoming a famous journalist. He told me about wanting to be a composer and concert pianist. For a few hours every day, Edward and I would sit at Charlie’s kitchen table and fill out dozens of applications. I have no idea where Edward got all of the applications.

“The cool thing is that we can reuse a lot of our essays,” Edward mused. He was staring down at a Portland State University application. “We would just have to change the name of the school in them.”

I stared at him. “I’ve filled out tons of applications. Why should I fill out any more?”

“Because you want to go to college?” Edward asked, puzzled by my question.

“Edward, you know I can’t afford to go to any of these colleges. I don’t work; even if I did I wouldn’t be able to save up enough for one term, let alone for a whole year. You’ve brought me all of these applications, which is sweet, but not one piece of paper telling me about scholarships.”

Edward looked at me with a sad look on his face. “You know I would be willing to help with that, right?”

“Can I try to raise money myself through scholarships and loans before offering me money?” He nodded.

The next day, I met Edward at his house, where they had fast Internet connection, and we browsed through scholarships. We found many scholarships connected to each school I had applied to. So, of course, I filled those out as well. It was tiring to be doing as much paperwork as I have been. Especially since I’ve also had to argue with Edward about paying all of the application fees.

Out of all the colleges I had applied to, I was most excited about Portland State, University of Washington, and the University of Alaska. Though I had applied to schools on the east coast as well, I had wanted to stay a little closer to home. I avoided looking into colleges in Arizona and the states near it. I never wanted to be living near Renee again. What a nightmare that would be.

“Bella! You haven’t been over in such a long time,” Esme said as she came into Edward’s room. We had taken to leaving the door wide open during the day. It was only at night that we were doing anything that we wouldn’t want a parent walking in on. Though, our three parents knew what was going on between us.

I giggled. “I was over on Monday. Just three days ago.” Alice, Rose and I had a girl’s day, while the boys went over to my house and played video games. Esme had joined the three of us, which made the day much more fun.

Esme walked over to Edward’s computer desk and gave me a hug. “More college applications?”

“Nope. We are on too scholarships now. Next, depending on if I hear from any colleges within the next month, I’ll be looking at loans. I never realized how much work it was to try to get into college,” I replied.

“You know that you wouldn’t have to take out any loans, right? Even scholarships aren’t necessary. You are a part of the family…we would pay for your tuition, books, and rent. Whatever you would need.”
I stared at Esme, my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. Edward was one thing, but his mother? “I couldn’t take your money, Esme! That would just be…wrong.” Edward and Esme wanted to pay for my entire education. I just couldn’t handle it. Tears started coming out of my eyes. Esme made a grab for the box of tissues Edward kept on his desk.

“Love, why are you crying?” Edward asked, panicked.

“Why are you guys being so nice to me? Paying for my college is something you guys shouldn’t do because I am not a part of your family,” I stammered out through my tears. My hands were shaking. Edward was trying to calm me down by rubbing my back and giving me small kisses on the cheek.

“You are a part of the family, dear,” Esme stated. “We love you.”

It took me ten, fifteen minutes to fully calm down. I was shocked that both Edward and Esme were so willing to give me my dream…once I was accepted in to a college. I didn’t even notice that Esme had quietly left the room, leaving Edward and I alone. Once I was calm, Edward picked me up and carried me to his bed.

The two of us laid on his bed, curled up together, listening to music. It felt good to not think about how I was going to pay for college. Though I knew the Cullen’s were more than willing to pay for it, I would feel that I would need to pay back every cent of it, which would not make them happy.

As always when we were laying together on a bed, Edward and I started getting hot and heavy. It was easy to be with him like this. It made me feel whole. We were slowly starting to experiment with different positions, though neither one of us wanted to tell our friends that. They would bug us even more for details about our sexual relationship then.

I celebrated New Year’s with Edward and our friends. Emmett was being his rambunctious self. He couldn’t contain himself. He was running around our house, hyped up on sugar and caffeine. It was like giving a two-year-old crack. Nothing we did would calm him down. Well, nothing until Rose said that he wouldn’t get any until he stopped acting like a moron.

The six of us rang in the New Year traditionally, kissing our “partners.” Though afterwards, once we found our own bedrooms, we rang it in a different way. What surprised me was what happened after New Year’s. The first week of January, I received replies from 3 colleges. I was disappointed. I knew the only response that I would get this quickly was a “Thanks, but no thanks.” I didn’t want to open them by myself. I wanted Edward to be there with me, but I also didn’t want him to see that I hadn’t been accepted. I finally worked up the nerve to take my envelopes over to Edward’s, to open them together.

I climbed into my ancient truck and plowed over the ice to Edward’s. My truck was massive and a great thing for me. It handled the snow and ice that was the centerpiece of Fork’s winter. I loved it. Edward hated it. Once I pulled into Edward’s driveway, I had to compose myself before going it. I didn’t want to open the envelopes. It was too daunting. They, hopefully, held my future. I wanted to know if I had been accepted, but I was too afraid that I would read that these schools didn’t want me. One of them was one of my top choices, the University of Washington.

As I took of my seatbelt, I heard my car door open. I looked up. There was Edward, standing next to me. “I thought you would stay in your truck all day. So, I decided that I needed to come and get you.” I gathered all of my things together, and then walked hand in hand into the house with Edward. “I thought I was coming over to your house later. What brings you all the way over here?”

Of course. Edward would want to bring up why I decided to come visit him within the first minute. Mutely, I held out the envelopes from the colleges. His eyes widen and then got a huge smile on his face. “University of Washington. Dartmouth. New York University. You got your responses all ready? That is awesome! We need to celebrate.”

“I haven’t opened them yet, Edward. I wanted to open them up with you,” I informed him. “Have you received any responses yet?”
“I got a response from University of Washington, but was going to wait until I went over to see you before opening it. I guess we were thinking alike.”

Edward pulled me towards the living room and had me sit down on the couch. He ran into the kitchen. I heard some Edward talking to someone, though I couldn’t quite tell whom it was from where I was sitting. A few minutes later, Edward came back into the living room with an envelope. “Mom and Alice say they want to know our responses as soon as we know.”

I chuckled. “You go first…I’m too nervous to go first.”

Edward smiled at me. He looked down at the envelope he placed on the coffee table, and then picked it up. He took a deep breath, and then tore it opened. I fidgeted in my seat, waiting for him to tell me if he got in or not. “I’m in! I got in.” I laughed and threw myself at him. Edward leaned down and kissed me on the mouth.

“Congrats, Edward,” I said once we had stopped kissing. “That is awesome! I’m so excited for you! Are you going to go there?”

“That depends. Open up your envelopes.”

I wanted to do the University of Washington last. So, I picked up the Dartmouth envelope, started at it for a second, and then slowly opened it. I quickly read through the letter, and then handed it to Edward. I hadn’t gotten in. My SAT score wasn’t high enough. I picked up the New York University envelope, and then I started to sequel. Edward laughed at my reaction and kissed me. “Congratulations, love.” I leaned against him.

He handed me my University of Washington envelope. I sighed. Since Edward got accepted, I really wanted to be accepted as well so we would be able to go to the same college if we wanted. I opened the envelope carefully. I decided to play a little trick on him. So, sadly I handed the envelope to him. Edward looked at me. “It’s okay. I still haven’t heard back from New York University yet. There is a good change that I’ll be accepted there.” He looked down at the paper I handed him. “AWESOME!” He picked me up and twirled me around the room, laughing.

We were making so much noise that Esme and Alice ran in from the kitchen and Carlisle ran down the stairs, from his office. “Did you get in? What happened? You HAVE to tell me,” Alice yelled bouncing next to us. “Why aren’t you two talking? Edward! You promised you and Bella would let Mom and I know. Talk!”
“Alice, will you calm down?” Carlisle asked. “I’m sure if you stop bombarding them with questions, they’ll tell you their news.”

Esme quietly sat down on the couch. Carlisle joined her, pulling Alice down with him. Alice was still vibrating with excitement, almost making the couch move with her. “I got accepted into University of Washington and Bella was accepted to New York University, as well as the University of Washington,” Edward told his family. I was standing with my back in front of him, and he has his arms wrapped around my waist.

Alice bounced off of the couch and threw herself at Edward and I. She had her legs around our waists and was hanging on to our shoulders for dear life. “That is so amazing! Jasper and I applied to Washington too! Wouldn’t it be awesome to all go to the same college?”

Carlisle and Esme pried Alice off of us and gave us hugs. “Where ever you guys decide to go, we’ll be behind you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice bend down and pick up my acceptance letter from University of Washington that Edward dropped when he started twirling me and she started reading it. I shrugged and turned my head to ask Esme and Carlisle a question. “Isabella Marie Swan!” Alice yelped. We all turned to face her. “Why didn’t you mention that you had full ride scholarship to UW? Don’t you think that is an important piece of information?”
“WHAT?” I screamed. I snatched the paper out of her hand and quickly read it. “I only read that I was accepted.” I started jumping up and down, imitating Alice. “Edward! I have a full ride! I wouldn’t have to pay for anything!”

Edward gave me a huge hug. This day couldn’t get any better.

On my way home from Edward’s house, I stopped at the grocery store. I wanted to celebrate. I knew if I told Emmett and Charlie before dinner, they would want to take me out. But I wanted to make Pad Thai. I knew most people didn’t usually make their own Thai food, but I loved to. On the drive to the grocery store, I called Emmett and told him I had news and he was coming to dinner. He could tell Rose about my news later.

I picked up all the ingredients I need, as well as some things I knew that our house needed. When I got back to the house, Charlie was still at work and Emmett, I assumed, was still with Rose. I unpacked all the groceries, cleaned the kitchen and picked up the living and dining room. I forget that Charlie and Emmett don’t really care about that kind of thing. It wasn’t that I minded, but if I didn’t do the five minutes it took every day, it would take three times as long the next day. Emmett and Charlie noticed when I didn’t pick up, so they would, unknowingly, revert back to their old ways.

When it was around 5, I slowly started making dinner. Though Emmett would complain and Charlie would manfully endure, I started cutting up broccoli to have steamed with dinner. This dinner didn’t take too long to make, I just wanted to make sure it was ready when both Charlie and Emmett got home around 6.

They both had skeptical looks on their faces when they smelled the peanut sauce. They were not the type of people who experimented with what they ate. I laughed at them. “You think I would kill you? It’s just Pad Thai, nothing too exciting.”

Charlie looked at the noodles. “I’ve just never had much Thai food. Not your fault I’m nervous.”

We all served up in the kitchen, because I was lazy and didn’t want to find a bowl to put everything in or wash it afterwards. I forced some broccoli onto Emmett’s plate. The way he acted, you wouldn’t think he as eighteen. We all sat around the dining room table and started eating. “Bells, you said you had some news,” Emmett stated after he had a couple bites.

I hadn’t told Charlie I had news. Charlie raised his eyebrows at me. “Well, you know that Edward and I have been filling out a lot of college applications. I got accepted to New York University and…” I tried to tell them the rest of my news, but Emmett was lifting out of my chair and hugged me.

Charlie got up and hugged me, “That is great news, Bella!”

“Well, I have even better news. I got also got accepted to the University of Washington in Seattle with a full ride scholarship. Since I don’t have a college fund, it is perfect!” I said.

Once again I was pulled into two huge hugs, then I was able to sit back down. The rest of dinner was talking about college classes and majors. Also, Charlie would occasionally give Emmett a slight glare because he hadn’t heard back from any colleges yet. Though, I have to admit, it’s not Emmett’s fault no one had responded as of right now. Charlie was very excited for me to get ready to college and get a “proper education.” Throughout the entire conversation, no one mentioned me calling Renee. I noticed it, but didn’t bring it up. I did not want to call her with my news.

Though I got into two colleges, and as off right now I was going to accept UW’s offer, I knew I had to work really hard the rest of the school year. I had to keep my grades up high. The paper said that I had the full ride, but I would be put on probation if I didn’t get a B average. I wanted to go in proving I earned them.

I was utterly amazed at how fast the next couple months flew by. Before I knew it, spring break had happened and was over. Edward and I were still hanging out together every day. I was also having a “girls night” every Friday with Rose and Alice. We would have it at the Cullen’s. Because of that, Edward would invite Jasper and Emmett over and we’d wind up in each other’s beds at the end of the night. Though we would spend the evening hanging out with our friends of the same gender, we would always want our boyfriends to sleep with.

Edward and I wouldn’t always…be active. But it was always nice to just lay next to each other and cuddle with each other. Edward and I both decided to go to University of Washington. Charlie was a little edgy on the two of us going to the same college. But he couldn’t really complain when Emmett got a football scholarship there as well. Rose, Alice and Jasper also decided to go there as well, of course. Since my brother was coming with me, as well as my other friends, and I had a full scholarship Charlie couldn’t tell me no. He also knew how happy Edward made me.

A week after spring break, Charlie, Emmett and I were eating dinner. It was our average nightly dinner we had together. “Well, I heard from Renee today.”

I started at him. “What did she want?” I demanded.

Emmett started cracking his knuckles.

“She wants to fight a custody battle for the two of you,” Charlie responded.

I looked at Emmett. Our eyes met and we started laughing. “Doesn’t she realize that we are eighteen? Neither one of you has legal custody of us anymore,” Emmett asked. “Besides, the last time she called was three months ago. If she was such a concerned parent, she would contacted us more than twice since Bella moved here.”

Charlie looked at Emmett and shrugged, though he looked really worried. That is what threw me off the most. His look. “I don’t know what she is thinking or what she wants. But, you two needed to know she made contact again. If she ever calls here, I want to know.”

Emmett and I nodded. I couldn’t really start eating again. I just kept staring at my dad. There was something he wasn’t telling us. “What, Bella?” Charlie asked.

“Is there anything else? Something you left out?” I questioned.

“Bella, if I was worried about anything involving the two of you, I would let you know. Just, be aware of your mother. Don’t talk to her, e-mail her, write her unless you talk to me first.”

“Okay, Dad.”

The next day after school, Edward and I went over to his house to do homework. I was excited that my grades were straight A’s. I was studying as hard as I could. As far as proving myself goes, I think I am doing pretty well. “Do you mind if I check my e-mail?” I asked.

“Why do you ask? You should know by now you can use my computer without asking me,” Edward stated. “I’m never on it when you’re here.”

“It’s polite,” I responded, lightly shoving his arm as I walked over to his computer desk. “See if I ask you for anything again!” Edward laughed at me, then gave me a kiss on the cheek.

As I waited for my e-mail to load, I tapped my fingers on the desk. Edward and I were narrowing down what classes we wanted to take in the fall tonight. It was exciting to see all the different classes we could take. We got the brochures for U of W last week. We had been so busy with papers and a test, we hadn’t had time to go through them yet.

I scanned through my e-mail. Mostly junk, since I didn’t communicate with anyone from Arizona and there wasn’t a point in e-mailing people I went to school with here in Forks. I just liked to delete my spam every once in a while. I stopped deleting e-mails when I cam across a familiar address. Renee. I clicked it.

Darling Bella-

I talked with your father. He refuses to let me talk with you or with Emmett. That will no longer be a problem soon. Phil said he would be more than willing to adopt the two of you. He will be a much better father than Charlie. Charlie has stolen you away from me and has kept Emmett away from me for years. I will be taking him to court for that. He will wish he had never been born.

I hope this e-mail finds you doing okay. I don’t want you to be too happy, because I know you can only really be happy here…with Phil and me. I will see you soon.

If you tell your father about this e-mail, you will pay for it. There is nothing he can do to keep me away from you and Emmett now. I wouldn’t want to have to do anything to your brother or father, just to make you listen.

Love Always,

Mom

I was starting to shake as I hit the print button on Edward’s computer screen. Edward came over to stand behind me. “Can I use your cell phone, please?” Wordlessly, Edward handed me his phone. I quickly dialed in the number for the police station. “This is Bella, can I please talk with my father?” I waited a moment as I got transferred to Charlie’s desk.

“Bella! What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I got an e-mail from her dad!”

“Where are you?”

“At the Cullen’s.”

“Stay right where you are. Don’t go anywhere.”

I hung up. Edward was slowly rubbing my shoulders. He had read the e-mail over my shoulder. “My dad is coming. She has called a couple of times and has told him basically the same thing. This is the kind of thing she did before I moved here. I would never want to go back.”

Once Charlie got to the Cullen’s, I handed him the printout of the e-mail. It was hard to read his face. “I’m taking this to my lawyers. I’ll see what he can do about it. I also have recordings of the phone calls she has made. She won’t be able to get to you without a fight.” It was kind of cute seeing Charlie being all heroic. It also felt nice to feel loved. I never truly felt that with Renee. “I want you to stay here, with Alice and Edward tonight, Bella.”

“What?”

“Twice in two days, Bella. She is getting desperate for something. I wouldn’t put it past her to do something. I know she’s in Arizona, but who knows what could happen. I’m telling Emmett to keep Rose away from our house as well. I don’t want her hurting you guys.”

“She said she would hurt you, Dad! What if she gets to you?” I cried. Edward wrapped his arms around me.

“Don’t worry about me.”

Of course, my dad tells me not to worry and it is the only thing that I can do. My mother has turned into a crazy woman who wants to hurt my father and brother. ARG! Why can’t my life be simple? I just want to hang out with the family that I like, my boyfriend and my friends. I want to get ready to go to college, graduate and become a journalist. I don’t want to have to deal with a crazy mother.

Edward’s POV

It was hard for me to see Bella so uptight. She was worried about what her mother would do. “Is there anything I can do?” I asked.

“There is nothing to do,” Bella told me. “Unless she does something else, we can’t do anything. It’s so pointless!”

We were in my bedroom. Bella was pacing up and down the room, twisting her hands together. She had been pacing around my house for several hours, ever since she read her e-mail from her mother. Charlie had taken the e-mail away. Hopefully he’d be able to do something with it. That woman was annoying!

The next time Bella paced by me, I quickly grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her over to the bed. “Take your shoes off, Bella.”

“Huh?”

“Take your shoes off. You need to relax a little.”

Bella took off her shoes, her sweatshirt and climbed onto my bed. She took her hair out of the ponytail it was in once she was sitting in the middle of the bed. I walked over to my sound system and put on my Debussy CD. I knew it would help Bella calm down, even if she didn’t fully want to relax. Before I went back to my bed, I shut my bedroom door and kicked off my shoes. I threw my sweatshirt onto my desk chair before crawling onto my bed next to Bella.

Bella and I curled into each other. I wanted to take away whatever pain she must be feeling. I knew that Bella did not leave Arizona on the best terms with her mother. I never realized just how bad it was. “What happened between you and your mom before you left Arizona?”

I felt like I was lower than the slime slugs leave behind after I asked that question. The way Bella looked at me. It was like I had stabbed her. “You don’t have to tell me. Forget I asked.” I put my arms around her and pulled her closer to me. “I’m sorry.”

It was a couple minutes before Bella started talking. I simply rubbed her back. My hands went up and down her back. If I could have taken my words away, I would have. “She wanted to put me into foster care, knowing I would turn eighteen a month after she wanted to give me up. So, basically, she just wanted to get rid of me. Since she didn’t want me, I decided I needed some quality time with Emmett and Charlie.”

Why would a parent want to give up a child? Especially one they had already raised. Just another year and Bella would have been in college. I have to admit, I am glad Bella moved to Forks. She was able to get away from her crazy mom and I got to meet her. “Did she tell you why?”

“Not really. I just guess that she wanted to have time with her new husband and I got in the way of that.”

We didn’t really talk after Bella told me about her mom. It felt nice just to be in her arms. I wanted to keep her happy. Before I knew it, we had both drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up to my door slamming open. I almost shot out of bed. Luckily I felt Bella shift against me, so I instantly stopped moving. I turned my head towards the door. Alice was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. My eyebrows shut up, a small smile on my face. She looked like a pissed off elf. She stalked over to me and glared down at me. “You are keeping my best friend away from me,” Alice whispered at me.

I shook my head. I slowly started sitting up, trying not to disturb Bella. I looked at my bedside clock. 8 in the morning. “Can’t this wait until she is awake?” I whispered back. “Yesterday was kind of a stressful day.”

Alice narrowed her eyes at me. She looked at Bella, who snuggled closer to my side when I moved. Her nose scrunched up. “Fine. She needs you and not me right now. I want you to tell her Rose and I want some girl time. Even if that means you will be hanging out with us.”

I chuckled. “I’ll let her know. Now, will you go away and bug Jasper?”

“Gladly.” Alice came closer to me, gave me a peck on the cheek and then she dashed out my room, closing my door quietly. I don’t think I will ever understand how my sister works.

About a half an hour after Alice intruded into my bedroom, Bella started to wake up. It was good that Bella slept as long as she did. I don’t think Bella had slept that long in a couple of days. “Morning,” I whispered, kissing her on the temple.

Bella’s eyes sleepily looked at me. I smiled. She always looked so cute when she was waking up. “Hey,” she said groggily. “Is it really morning?”

“Yeah. You slept through a pixie attempt to kidnap you for a girly take over. Though, I was promised I would tell you that Rose and Alice want to hang out, even if it means they have to put up with me.”

Bella laughed. Her laugh was so beautiful. It took my breath away. She rested her head on my shoulder and put her hand on my stomach, moving it in slow circles. I sucked my breath in. Bella moved her head in order to look me in the face. “What?”

“You just don’t know what you do to me. We should get up and go downstairs before the parents come up looking. Alice has already barged in on us.” Bella pouted, then got up out of bed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bella and I had breakfast together, before Alice and Rose stole her. They drove her over to her house so she could change, shower and do whatever it was that girls do together that involves the bathroom. Emmett and Jasper came over. We played some video games, went out to rent movies for the six of us to watch and just bummed around the house. It was nice to get Bella’s mom off of my mind for a couple of hours.

As Jasper was putting in a movie for us guys to watch (the girls would never want to watch Saving Private Ryan), my cell phone rang. I looked at caller id. Restricted. Huh. “Hello?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” a woman asked.

“Excuse me? Who is this?” I asked. Jasper and Emmett looked up at me, surprised by my tone of voice.

“You know who I am. I want you to stay the hell away from my daughter.”

“Your daughter? Is this Renee Dryer?”

Emmett leaped up off the couch. “Jasper, call my dad.” Jasper reached for his phone and dialed the number to the station. “Give me the phone, Edward.” I just stared at me. “Give me the damn phone!” I handed him the phone. “Stay away from Bella!” Renee replied. “Yes, this is Emmett and I want you to leave us alone, especially Bella.”

Jasper hung up his phone and looked at me. “Charlie is on his way over. He said he would stop by his house and tell the girls to come over here.”

“You know nothing about Bella, Renee. You think because she was forced to live with you for 15 years, that you know her. You wanted to throw her out of your house because you got married. What kind of mother does that?” Emmett was yelling into my cell phone. “I love her. Dad loves her. She has friends who love her. Now stay the hell away from my sister.” Pause. “You’re coming here? Like hell you are! You wouldn’t be able to make it into the state.”

I heard sirens. If I wasn’t so concerned about what Renee was saying, I would have laughed that Charlie was using the sirens to get to my house because of a phone call. I couldn’t sit in longer. I jumped off of the couch and started pacing around the living room. “How did you get this number, Renee?”

I was stunned. Why hadn’t I thought about that? Creepy!

“That is a fucking lie! I know that Bella has not contacted you since she has moved here. So don’t give me that crap that she gave you Edward’s number.” Without warning, Emmett shut my phone and threw it roughly onto the couch. I stared at him, eyes wide. “That bitch hung up on me.”

Charlie came bursting through the door. Right behind him was Bella, Alice and Rose. I rushed to Bella and pulled her into a hug. I heard Charlie talk to Emmett about what Renee had said to him. Bella’s arms went around my waist, her head rested on my shoulder. Alice ran past us to find our parents. Once they were in the living room, Charlie started talking. “I had my lawyer put a restraining order on Renee, stopping her from contacting and seeing Bella and Emmett. Since she somehow got Edward’s number, I would strongly suggest you guys taking a restraining order out as well.” He was directing all of this towards Mom and Dad.

It was amazing how we were able to make plans in case Renee came here. We were preparing for the worse possible scenario. I wanted to be ready, but I didn’t want to think about the possibilities. It made me crazy. I didn’t want to think about the worse possible scenario. Yes, it was great to know what to do if it happened, but thinking about it made my skin crawled. I didn’t want Bella to be put in any danger at all. My mind could barely comprehend what could happen to my girlfriend. The love of my life. Before Charlie left for the station and my parents left to visit our lawyer, we were prepared to do anything.

It felt kind of strange. Wherever I went, I was required to have Emmett, Jasper, Edward or my dad with me. It got tiring that I was only allowed to be alone when I was in the bathroom. Dad and Edward’s parents were perfectly okay with Edward and I sleeping together. Every night. That was how paranoid Dad and the Cullen’s were, not that I minded having Edward in my bed. They didn’t even want me alone when I was asleep under the same roof as Carlisle or my own father. Edward had a lot of spare clothes in my closet, just like I had in his. I guess it was a good thing Forks High School was so small that I had at least one of the there guys in my classes. Otherwise classes would be a little strange.

Dad got a restraining order issued and so did Esme and Carlisle. Though it had been a couple weeks since Renee had called Edward, I was still nervous. I didn’t want her to do anything to anyone that I cared about. I wasn’t worried about myself.

I opened my eyes slowly. I was on Edward’s bed, his arms wrapped around me. Of course, being this physically close to him made me smile. His eyes were already open and on me. When our eyes met, Edward smirked. We spent a couple minutes just looking at each other before rolling out of bed and slowly getting dressed.

When we walked downstairs and I heard Charlie’s voice coming out of the kitchen. “Her mom hasn’t made a move, but Bella is doing worse. There has to be something we can do.”

“Short of shoving food down her mouth, we can’t do that much,” Carlisle responded.

“She’s lost weight. It’s obvious that she hasn’t been sleeping well. I’ve looked in on her and Edward. She’s been mumbling a lot, tossing around. So much that Edward almost gets shoved of the bed.”

Esme sighed. “The only thing it seems like we can do is find out where Renee is and get her locked up.”

“Technically she hasn’t done anything against the law. Inhumane, yes, but not illegal until she gets too close to Bella, Emmett or Edward,” Charlie stated.

“But you will admit, you want to know where she is,” Esme said.

“We all do,” Carlisle joined in. “I think we just need to work on getting Bella to eat a little more. She needs protein.”

Edward finally pulled me into the kitchen, where our parents could see us. They looked slightly embarrassed that we overheard what they were saying. Esme opened up the fridge, got out milk and yogurt. “Edward, Bella, do you guys want fruit and cereal, fruit and yogurt, or just one of something?”

“Yogurt, fruit and cereal for me Mom,” Edward said, walking towards the kitchen table.

“No thanks, Esme,” I replied, not hungry, even though I know the adults were worried about my eating habits. Edward, I knew, would make me eat later. He worried more than my parents. The stress of having my mother somewhere out there was getting to me and even Edward couldn’t get me to get more food in me.

Carlisle grabbed a yogurt that Esme pulled out of the fridge and a spoon. He walked towards the table Edward and I were sitting at. “As your doctor, I am ordering you to eat this yogurt and a piece of fruit. Bella, you need food in your system.”

I groaned. Carlisle put the yogurt in front of me and raised his eyebrow. It was a familiar look. Edward used it on me all the time to say ‘you are doing this because it is the best for you and you know it.’ I looked over at my dad and Esme. They were staring at me as well. I opened the yogurt. Edward pulled a banana out of the fruit bowl on the table and placed it in front of me.

~*~

After being forced to eat, Edward and I went to go to the movies. It was the first time we were going on “a date” without Dad or Emmett breathing down our necks. Though they trusted Edward with me, they were paranoid. It was understandable. I was paranoid.

We went to go see “Bolt.” Though I wanted to go see “Milk,” I wasn’t up for that much seriousness on my weekend. For the next couple of months, I think I am going to be stuck with watching very light things…if I watch anything.

Edward took my hand as we walked towards the box office. After buying the tickets, he also bought some candy and popcorn. I knew he was going to make me eat most of it. Silly boy, making me eat! We sat down and pulled the armrest up between us. I snuggled up against Edward. “Comfortable?” Edward whispered into my ear.

I nodded against his shoulder. Throughout the movie, Edward pushed candy and popcorn onto me. I ate it, so he wouldn’t be disappointed, though I felt like I needed to eat something healthy by the end of the movie. It’s hard to go from barely eating to eating a tub of popcorn and candy.

After the movie, Edward and I stood up, laughing about how silly the movie was. We were walking out of the theater, when I tripped over my own shoes. Edward caught me, shaking his head. “Careful Bella. You’re not allowed to hurt yourself.”

“Well, you always seem to catch me. Plus, I haven’t hurt myself in a long time.”

Edward snorted at me.

“It’s true! It’s been at least a month since your dad has had to patch me up. I think that I may have set a personal record.”

The whole ride back to my house we joked back and forth. I think the mood was the lightest it has ever been since Renee first started contacting me. It felt great to talk with my boyfriend without worrying. Edward pulled in front of my house. We stared at a strange car in the driveway. I looked at Edward and his eyebrows were pulled together. He didn’t recognize the car either. We climbed out of the Volvo and walked up to the house.

I pulled my keys out my purse and went to unlock the door, but it was already open. Edward grabbed his phone and quickly dialed the police station to tell Charlie someone might have been in the house. I only partially listened to Edward’s conversation. As Edward was saying good-bye to Charlie, the front door swung open. “Aw. The prodigal daughter returns.”

My entire body stiffened. My eyes grew wide. Edward quickly shoved himself between my crazy mother and me. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Get out of my way. You don’t want to come between me and my daughter,” Renee stated. “She is rightfully supposed to be with me, not her father. I got custody of her when Charlie and I divorced.”

“If you think I am going to let you near Bella, you have another thing coming. She is eighteen. An adult. As I am sure you know, you are breaking the law by being this close to both of us,” Edward stated. I hoped he would stop talking. He was starting to ramble.

Renee laughed. “I don’t care what those pieces of paper say. Bella is my daughter. It is only right that she is with me. There is no reason for her to be here, in the middle of no where.”

Renee stalked towards the two of us. Edward slowly backed us up. I almost fell down the front porch steps. I glanced at the stairs before slowly walking down a couple of steps. Renee took advantage of the fact that I wasn’t directly behind Edward anymore. She lunged at me. I lost my footing and fell down the stairs. Renee didn’t even fully lunge at me, just faked it so my clumsiness would take over. The back of my head hit the pavement hard. I couldn’t focus on anything. The world was spinning.

“Bella!” Edward cried.

As Edward rushed to my side to kneel beside me, Emmett, Charlie and another police officer pulled up at the house. Charlie ran towards Renee, who darted back into the house. I couldn’t focus on them. Emmett and Edward carried me to Emmett’s huge Jeep. I sat on Edward’s lap as they drove me somewhere. Emmett was driving way to fast. Edward was talking to someone on his cell phone. My head was spinning. The Jeep skidded to a stop. Edward hopped out with me in his arms.

Within moments, I was inside the emergency room. “So much for my personal record,” I mumbled into Edward’s neck.

“Dad!” Edward cried.

Carlisle ran over to the two of us. I distantly heard him and Edward talking. I couldn’t make it out.

EPOV

I was sure that Bella had a concussion, probably something else as well. She hit her head very hard. As soon as Emmett got to the house, we rushed her to the hospital. I didn’t want to let her go. In Emmett’s Jeep, I carefully held her on my lap. I called my father on his cell phone and explained what happened, so he could treat her. Once at the hospital, I jumped out with Bella so Emmett could park. My dad was in the emergency room, waiting for us to arrive.

“Dad!” I cried. He ran over to me, a medical team behind him with a stretcher. I started following the team, when my dad put a hand on my arm.

“Edward, you know that you can’t come back with me. Wait here for Charlie, I’ll let you know what’s going on when I can,” Dad said. He turned around and ran after Bella’s stretcher.

I paced. Why does she need a stretcher? What if she had more than a concussion? My mind was racing. Emmett ran into the ER lobby room and came straight at me. “How is she? What’s going on?”

I sighed. “They just took her in…on a stretcher. I don’t know what’s going on or how she is doing. Dad said he would let us know.”

Emmett sat down and put his head on his hands. “If only I was home. This wouldn’t have happened if I w home. I should have been home. Why is she so crazy? A normal mother, is that too much to ask?” he muttered to himself. I had to smile at his ramblings, even though it is hard to smile or laugh when I didn’t know if Bella was okay or not.

After what seemed like days, Dad came back into the lobby. Emmett and I jumped out of our seats and ran to him. “She has a moderate concussion. She is a little confused about what happened, her ears are ringing a little, is dizzy and nauseous. She’ll be okay within the week. We’ll just have to make sure she doesn’t do anything extremely clumsy in that time.”

Emmett smiled slightly. “Is she in…pain?”

“Yes.” Emmett cracked his knuckles. Dad just ignored him. “When she gets home, she’ll just need to take some pain killers. Bella is a strong young woman. She’ll get better in no time. Between you and Edward, I am sure she will remember to take her medicine.”

After fifteen minutes of being in Bella’s room, Charlie showed up. It was good to see him. It meant that the crazy woman was no longer running around town. He came over to stand at the head of Bella’s bed. She was asleep, but I could tell Charlie was happy that she was alive and, for the most part, in one piece. “Dad gave her something to put her out. She was stressing out about Renee,” I explained.

Emmett went to stand by Charlie. They both stared down at her. “Renee is going down for this,” Charlie stated. Emmett and I smiled.

“She’s locked up, right?” Emmett asked.

“Yeah. I faxed all the paper work to my lawyer. Carlisle just needs to send over the medical reports and we’ll have a solid case against her. She’ll be locked up for at least a couple of years,” Charlie stated. It was the most I have ever heard out of him, but he was worried about his daughter. “I’m going to go talk to Carlisle now. Let me know if anything changes.”

Emmett and I stayed with Bella. She wasn’t being released until tomorrow. Dad wanted to make sure she got enough sleep, which wouldn’t be hard. He gave Bella enough sleeping drugs to knock out Emmett. When visiting hours were over, we still stayed put. Alice, Jasper and Rose also came by. They stayed for several hours and brought us food. They tried to get us to find a bed. We both refused. Charlie had to work. He was in and out of the hospital all day though.

Emmett finally went to the lobby to stretch out on a couch. I stayed next to Bella, in a chair. I wasn’t comfortable, but I wasn’t going to be away from Bella when she was in the hospital. “Edward?” I looked up. She wasn’t sleep talking. She sounds slightly different when she was asleep.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“What are you doing on a chair? Where am I?”

“I am in a chair because you are in the hospital,” I replied.

“Come up here,” she murmured, patting the hospital bed next to her.

I sighed. She wasn’t hooked up to any machines, so I figured that I couldn’t hurt her if I climbed up on the bed with her. So, I did. She snuggled against me, the side of her head on my shoulder. I put my arm on her waist. This was the first time since she got to the hospital that I felt like she would be all right.

I stared at Charlie’s and the Cullen’s lawyer. Edward clutched my hand. We were sitting around the Cullen’s dining room table, because Charlie’s house was too small. The conversation just blew me away.

“It is hard to explain what we have to do from here. There will be a hearing. I don’t think there will be a need for Edward or Bella to attend that,” Ms Weir explained.

Edward leaned closer to me. “What will happen to Ms. Dwyer? During and after the hearing, will she leave us alone? I don’t want her near Bella again.”

Ms Weir stared at Edward, slightly taken back that a teenager was asking these questions instead of his parents. Esme and Carlisle nodded at Edward’s questions, agreeing that they wanted to know the answers. “Once we find her…”

“Find her?” Charlie interrupted, standing up so quickly he knocked his chair over. “What do you mean, find her? I put her in jail and she was transferred to Seattle, by my most trusted deputy, because that is where the hearing would be. So, where the hell is she?”

“Mr. Swan, I need you to calm down,” Ms Weir stated.

“Ms. Weir, do you have children?” Esme asked quietly.

That question took Ms. Weir back. “No, I don’t. What does that have to do with this case?”

I rolled my eyes, knowing where Esme was going, and not understanding how the lawyer didn’t get it. “Since you do not have children, you cannot fully sympathize how Charlie, Carlisle and I are feeling. The woman who is threatening our children is the on the loose and you didn’t feel the need to fill us in. So, Charlie cannot fully calm down until he knows that Renee Dwyer is in jail.” Esme stared Ms. Weir down.

Ms. Weir leaned back in her chair and sighed. “She made bail. Her husband flew in from Florida to get her out.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this when you first came here?” Emmett asked.

“I wanted to work up to it,” Ms. Weir told us. “Though she made bail, she cannot leave the state. We will have the hearing. Mrs. Dwyer will be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony crime, depending on the judge. She could be sentenced to serve time and pay a fine. It all depends on the judge and how well I present the case.”

Edward snorted and Emmett cracked his knuckles. “When is the hearing scheduled for?” Carlisle asked.

“There isn’t a date set yet,” Ms. Weir told us.

“Shit, lady, do you have anything you can tell us?” Emmett asked rudely. “It sounds like you are all talk and no action. I want my sister to be safe.” She just nodded.

Charlie stared at her. His chin rested on his hands. “Did you make sure the restraining order was in order before she started running around the state?”

Ms. Weir stood up and took her purse. “Yes. Whatever you might think, I am not dimwitted. Mrs. Dwyer will get her court date and be sentenced. I’ll contact you with any further information.” She walked out the front door with the six of us staring after her.

EPOV

I was stunned. The lawyer had nothing important to tell us other than the fact that Bella’s mother was out wondering around Washington somewhere. The worse part of it was that I know knew she was in the state. That she could easily come to Forks and not violate the restraining order again. At least when she was suppose to be in Florida, it was harder to invasion her coming to get Bella and I. Now, she was in the same freaking state as us.

Bella and I were curled up on his bed. Charlie was talking to my parents in the living room. I could hear Emmett pacing around the house. He was agitated that our whole Renee thing wasn’t solved and he couldn’t punch something. I was rubbing slow circles on Bella’s back with one of my hands. She was drifting off to sleep when the door opened. I lifted my head off the pillow, to see who came into my room. “Hey, Charlie.”

Bella groaned. “No, Dad. I don’t want to eat the Brussels sprouts,” Bella murmured sleepily. Charlie and I started to softly laugh at her. “They look like heads.”

“You won’t have to eat them,” Charlie said. “Edward, your parents and I agreed to keep the two of you and Emmett out of school. So the three of you will be staying here. We’ll be picking up your work from school.”

I nodded. “I’ll let Bella know when she wakes up.”

Charlie came next to the bed and looked down at Bella. He bent down and lightly kissed her cheek. When he stood up, he smiled slightly at me. “Take care of my girl. Tell her that I’ll be by tomorrow night.”

I nodded again. Though I was physically tired, I stayed up to watch Bella. She was sleeping soundly. There was no sleep talking besides the Brussels sprouts, which kind of bummed me out. It was always funny to hear what she had to say in the middle of the night. I just stared at her face, drifting to sleep with her beauty in my mind.

The next day, Bella and I woke up and hung out with Emmett. We stayed inside, for the most part. In the back of our minds, we were fearful that Renee was out there somewhere, in the forest, running around Forks. It is hard to have fun or enjoy simple things when there is a woman on the loose who wants to do you and your girlfriend harm.

Charlie came over for dinner, bringing with him the promised packets of homework. Each packet had the next couple of week’s worth of homework and class work. Our teachers didn’t know the full story, but knew enough that we needed a large amount of work.

Rose also came over to spend time with Emmett. I had a feeling that he would be doing his homework the next day. I wonder how much homework Rose was doing during lunch in order to keep up in her classes. She wanted to spend time with Emmett just as much as he wanted to spend time with her.

Bella and I stayed in the living room after dinner to get started on the piles of homework we’ve received. Both of us wanted to get the most homework done as possible, so we could have more free time at the end of our “break.”

As Bella and I lay curled up together on my bed, she quietly asked, “Have you thought of what classes you want to take at UW (University of Washington) in the fall?”

I laughed. There was so much going on, I hadn’t thought about registering for classes. “I don’t know. I haven’t even looked through the stuff they’ve sent me. Why?”

Bella rolled away from me. I frowned as I turned towards her. Her face was smiling at me. “We should look at classes and majors and stuff tomorrow. I want to see what kind of journalism classes that they offer for freshmen. I also want to know what sort of classes we have to take.”

“That would be awesome,” I said, smiling. “Good thing to do during our vacation.”

We continued talking about different classes that we wanted to take and classes that we hoped we would never have to take again. Bella of course wanted to go no where near any type of physical type of class. She also crinkled her nose up at math class. I couldn’t blame her. I was good at math, but it was just so boring. With the amount of questions Bella was asking me, I was getting excited about going to college. In reality it wasn’t that far away. I just hoped that our problems with Renee went away before we moved down to Seattle.

After Bella stopped asking me five million questions about college, classes and dorm rooms, I finally decided I needed to tell Bella the most important thing I would ever say to her. She settled down, her head on my shoulder and one arm across my torso. I slowly started running my hand through her hair. It was so soft. I looked down at her face, “I love you, Bella.”

Startled, she looked up at me, a huge smile on her face. “I love you, too.”

It was now spring break. Months have gone by. After Renee had posted bail, she skipped out of town. No one has seen her or heard from her since Phil paid the bail. In a sense, I was relived because she was leaving us alone. There was a defiant downside. She was still on the loose. Though, if/when she was caught, Renee would have a longer prison sentence because she didn’t show up to court. That was something to smile about.

Another thing to smile about is Edward. We have had sex. The awkward part of it was trying to keep it from Emmett and Charlie. Though Emmett was the one who gave me condoms, I was not in any hurry to let him in on the fact Edward and I were doing the deed. For spring break, the six of us were going to Victoria, British Columbia.

We all wanted to do different things. Alice and Rose were excited about the shopping. Emmett wanted to do some extreme sports. There was some bungee jumping and hang gliding. Jasper was talking about going kayaking. Edward and I wanted to go island hopping. For the six of us being friends, we had a lot of different interests. I had a feeling that Jasper and Emmett would be forced to go shopping as well and then be forced to spend time with each other if they wanted to do more than shop.

Our parents, strangely enough, were all right with the six of us going up to Canada without supervision. There was also going to be three hotel rooms. Our parents had to know what was going to be happening while in those rooms. I avoided the subject while around Charlie. Even though Charlie knows Edward and I sleep together, I don’t know if he knows we doing anything besides sleep.

“Are you sure it’s safe for Bella and Edward to be traveling? Bella’s mother is still out there,” Ms Weir, our lawyer, asked Charlie, Carlisle and Esme. Though Edward and I were sitting in the Cullen’s living room with our parents and the lawyer, she never wanted to address us.

Esme looked at her strangely. “We could say the same thing about them going to school. Since we don’t know where Renee is, we just have to take precautions. The kids know what to do. Plus, only the kids, you and us parents know where they are going. So, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

Ms. Weir nodded. “I still don’t think that they should go. The other four, sure. But Edward and Bella should stay.”

“They’re kids. They need to have fun. They can’t spend the rest of their lives hiding. We haven’t heard from Renee in months. There is nothing to suggest that they would be in more danger in Victoria than if they were here,” Charlie answered.

“Yes, you haven’t heard from her in months. Which means that she’ll probably be around soon. I forbid you to send them to Canada!”

“Forbid?” Charlie asked.

“You cannot forbid us to send our children on a vacation. You don’t have that authority,” Carlisle stated. “Once this whole thing with Renee is done, we’re getting a new lawyer. You overstep yourself.”

Ms. Weir cringed. “I only have your child’s best interest at heart.”

“Believe me, if I thought Edward was in any danger, he wouldn’t be going on this trip. The same with Bella. I believe the three of us have their interests and safety very close to our hearts,” Carlisle informed Ms Weir. “Now if you don’t mind taking off, there are some last minute details about the trip I would like to talk to Edward and Bella about.”

Ms. Weir stormed out of the front door. Edward and I watched her slam the door. During the whole exchange, I had my head on Edward’s shoulder and his arm was around my waist. I was excited about going up to Canada. I never went there. A couple weeks ago, I had to get my passport. Which was exciting. Though I was envious of the others, who have already been outside of the States.

~*~*~*~*~

Strangely enough, the six of us were taking three different cars. After Emmett left to pick up rose and before Edward came to pick me up, Charlie came into my room to talk with me. “Bella,” Charlie started. I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.

“Yeah, Dad?” I asked.

“Just remember, be safe.”

“Of course I’ll be safe, Dad. We haven’t heard from Mom in months. I don’t think there is anything to worry about,” I responded.

Charlie gave me a weird look. “That wasn’t what I was talking about.” We heard a car pull into the driveway. Charlie walked over to my window, which overlooked the front of the house. “He’s a good kid, Bella. I like him a lot, I do. But, I won’t want anything to happen to you that you’ll regret.”

“Oh.” I blushed a deep shade of red. Edward knocked on the door. Charlie gave me a hug as he went downstairs to let Edward inside. I grabbed my bag and followed Charlie down the stairs. Edward ran up the stairs and took my bag from me. I smiled at him as we headed towards the door. “Dad, I’ll see you in a week and I’ll call you once a day to check in.”

Charlie looked up from the coach. “You do that Bella. Remind Emmett that he has to check in as well. I told him do, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll do it. Just cause he’s a guy doesn’t mean I don’t want to make sure he’s okay.”

“I’ll remind him,” I promised. I walked over to my father and gave me a quick peak on the cheek. Charlie blushed at that.

“Have fun you two. Remember-don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”

Edward and I laughed at Charlie’s comment as we walked out of the door. Edward opened his trunk and placed my duffel bag next to his. Then he walked me to my door, opened it for me before getting into his door and starting the car.

It was odd, not having everyone together in the car ride to a vacation we were taking together. The ride was roughly 90 miles, almost a three-hour ride, maybe closer to two hours with how Edward drives. As Edward started driving, I started fiddling with the music. I finally decided to just put a couple mixed CD’s into the Volvo’s CD drive. “I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie was the first song that came out through the speakers.

Love of mine, some day you will die

But I’ll be close behind

I’ll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white

Just our hands clasped so tight

Waiting for the hint of a spark

If heaven and hell decide

That they both are satisfied

Illuminate the no’s on their vacancy signs

If there’s no on beside you

When your soul embarks

Then I’ll follow you into the dark

If Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule

I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black

And I held my tongue as she told me

“Son fear is the heart of love”

So I never went back

If Heaven and Hell decide

That they both are satisfied

Illuminate the no’s on their vacancy signs

If there’s no one beside you

When your soul embarks

Then I’ll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see

From Bangkok to Calgary

And the soles of your shoes

Are all worn down

This time for sleep is now

It’s nothing to cry about

‘Cause we’ll hold each other soon

In the blackest of rooms

If Heave and Hell decide

That they both are satisfied

Illuminate the no’s on their vacancy signs

If there’s no one beside you

When your soul embarks

Then I’ll follow you into the dark

Then I’ll follow you into the dark

~*~*~*~*~

I jolted awake when I felt the car stop. I looked over at Edward. He smiled at me. “Sorry I fell asleep on you, Edward,” I apologized.

“It’s all right. You didn’t really asleep last night,” he replied.

We walked hand in hand to our bed and breakfast. When Edward told me that we were staying at a bed and breakfast, I was hoping that he hadn’t spent an arm and leg on our room. When I saw the place, and our room, I decided that he, once again, spent way too much money. There was a huge garden, Jacuzzis, fireplaces, flowers, it was close to downtown, so we could leave our cars at the bed and breakfast and walk around if we wanted too.

When I saw our room, I was amazed at the size and how expensive everything looked. The windows were huge. A king sized bed took up a great deal of room. The bathroom was close to the size of my very own bedroom. We would be able to get breakfast every morning in the main dining room. After Edward and I were in our room for a while, I got a call from Alice and Edward got a call from Emmett. They had arrived and had dropped their stuff off in their rooms. They wanted to go out on the town and do something.

The six of us went clubbing. I protested, of course, because me and dancing do not go together. I would end up hurting myself. I told them that. That didn’t stop Alice and Rose bringing me an outfit. (Yes, they stashed clothes for me in their bags.) Edward also told me that he wanted to go and listen to music. Once he told me he wanted to go, I agreed. The others just laughed at me a little when they realized the only reason why I was okay with going was because of Edward.

Clubbing was…fun. I did enjoy the music and watching the dancing. Mainly, I found how a lot of people where dancing was hysterical. I couldn’t dance like that even if I wanted to. I refused to dance with Edward when there were fast songs playing. I told him he could go off and dance by himself or sit with me and listen to the music. I promised that I would dance with him when there were slow songs. Of course, Edward took me up on my promise. Every slow, or even moderately paced, song, we were on our feet dancing.

I didn’t want to fully admit it to Alice and Rose, but I really did enjoy myself. It was fun to people watch in the club. We walked back to the bed and breakfast, chatting about what our plans were for the next day. We couldn’t agree on anything. Which caused us to burst out laughing in the middle of the street. People were giving us strange looks, but we didn’t care. All I really cared about was that I ended up curled next to Edward on our bed.

My cell phone was ringing. I groped at the bedside table, trying to find it without moving too much. I didn’t want Bella to wake up because I was moving around. She groaned and snuggled closer into me. “Tell Alice to go away,” Bella whispered.

I laughed. I finally grabbed my phone. It was Alice. “Bella wants you to go away,” I stated once I got my phone open.

“Is that the polite way to answer your phone?” Alice asked me.

“No, but I just wanted to let you know the only thing my girlfriend has said to me today is ‘Tell Alice to go away,’” I replied.

“Whatever. You guys have a half an hour to get ready. We are at least going to eat breakfast together. So get your buns moving, Edward,” Alice told me.

I moaned. I looked over at the alarm clock. It was only 8 AM. We were on spring break. Granted Bella and I weren’t going to school everyday, but still. We were on vacation and Alice was getting us up at 8 AM. I propped myself up on my elbow so I could look at Bella better. “We need to get ready for breakfast.”

She shook her head, her nose going back and forth on my chest. “No.”

“Do you want Alice to come in and get us?”

Bella sat straight up in bed. “That is a mean thing to say Edward.”

I smiled at her. “It got you up. Now, let’s go shower.”

~*~*~*~

We finally started roaming around Victoria. The first thing Alice and Rose wanted to do was go shopping. The guys, Bella and I groaned. Finally Alice and Rose consented that we can roam around first before they start on their shopping trip. Bella looked up at me. “You better save me from your evil sister once we start shopping. I do not want to be in a dressing room for hours on end.”

I smiled, knowing that if Bella refused to get into a dressing room, Alice would just buy her more clothes and accessories. That would piss Bella off even more because she hates people spending money on her. “Don’t worry. I’ll let Alice have a little fun with you, then I’ll steal you away.” Alice shouldn’t be the only one spending money on my girlfriend. I wanted to buy her stuff too.

“Thanks. That doesn’t mean you get to buy books or CD’s or anything like that for me while you are rescuing,” Bella stated. I swear that she could read my mind some days.

I frowned. “Okay. No books or CD’s. Gotcha.” I had a good thing in mind to buy for her. Several things. She’ll complain and bitch and moan. But, I’ll make her accept them. Once she gets over the idea that I have spent money on her, she will like my presents to her.

One of the first things the six of us did was go to the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. Jasper said it was really the only things he really wanted to do. That if he was able to go to this museum, he would be up for anything else. Bad thing to say in front of Alice, but we all know he is wrapped around her little finger.

So, we went to the museum and spent several hours looking at artifacts about explorers, pirates, whaling, shipwrecks and more. I have to admit, it was really interesting. Rose and Emmett didn’t like it as much. They are more into cars than ships. Alice loved it because Jasper loved it. Bella and I found it fascinating and glad that Jasper had us go. We wouldn’t have gone by ourselves.

After the museum, it was time to go shopping. Of course, Alice and Rose were able to find clothing stores at the best prices, though neither of them had to worry about money. They just wanted Bella to get out of her semi baggy jeans and favorite sweatshirts. Once they pulled Bella into a dressing room, she looked at me. “I better not be in here for more than an hour, Edward!”

Jasper and Emmett laughed at me. “She’s got you whipped, bro,” Emmett stated.

“No more than Rose has you whipped and Bella is not as stressful to be around. She is fine listening to music. I don’t have to spend hours walking around malls,” I replied.

Jasper snickered. “That’s true. So, you guys have any ideas for tonight?”

Emmett looked slightly embarrassed, before he stated, “I think we should go to the Butchart Gardens. Rose really, really wants to go.”

I smiled. It was almost funny hearing Emmett willing to go to a huge garden without being forced in by gunpoint. Well…Rose could be considered a dangerous weapon. Not that I would ever say that to her face. “I think it’s a good idea. Alice and Bella will probably like that as well.”

Jasper nodded. The three of us walked around the mall for a little bit, letting the girls try on multiple outfits and giving our minds something to think about. A little over an hour before my sister and Rose kidnapped my girlfriend, I went to rescue her. “Alice, hand over my girlfriend, and none of your shoes go through the dishwasher.”

Alice poked her head out of the dressing room curtains. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh, I would. Your scary leopard print ones you love. The ones that took you and Rose two hours to buy. I want my girlfriend.”

She went back into the dressing room grumbling. “Bella, your crazy boyfriend wants you. NO! Don’t you dare touch any of those clothes. I will deal with them. Now go away before my ex-brother destroys my Prada shoes.”

Bella walked out of the dressing room. She smiled up at me. “Thanks for the rescue. Your sister is nuts.” I nodded, completely agreeing with that assessment.

Alice came out of the dressing room, fully clothes, I was glad to see. “Rose and I will be another hour or so. We’ll text you guys, and then we can take off to where ever we are going after this. And Bella, next time, I’ll make sure Edward is not here to save you from trying on new lingerie.”

Of course, Bella blushed bright red. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the store. “Stupid crazy shopping crazy pixie. I told her no.” I just chuckled and let myself be dragged around the mall. Luckily, I had seen the store that I wanted to take Bella into. She would complain at me, but oh well. I can make it up to her later. She wouldn’t complain at me for as long as she complains about Alice and Rose.

After Bella blew off some steam of having to be stuck in a dressing room for an hour, I pulled her into a Mac Store. Bella looked at me confused. “I just want to look around. Besides, I think it makes sense to buy an i-pod. I would use it more than I would my disc-man. Then, I wouldn’t have to carry around as many CD’s.”

I already had a computer with i-tunes loaded onto it, so it would be easy to hook up the i-pod with some of my music, once I got home. Bella and I wondered through the store. I saw her eyeing an i-pod classic. I figured I could buy us both one. They had white and black. Then, we would be able to tell ours apart. I walked up to a sales person and started talking to him about the i-pods and what I should buy with them. Bella was still looking around, though now she was looking at the laptops, which made me grin. I tried to pay attention to the ones that she seemed to be looking at the most for future reference.

It was nice to have Bella occupied with the computers, so I could buy the i-pods, headphones, apple care, chargers and a couple other things without her having an explosive reaction inside the store. By the time I had paid, I got a text from Alice saying that her and Rose were ready to go. When Bella and I got to the store they were in, Emmett and Jasper were already there, carrying six or seven bags each. Alice bounced over to me, and shoved a couple bags into my hands. “These are Bella’s,” she chirped.

“Alice, I am going to kill you,” Bella muttered.

“Then you’d have to kill me too, Bells,” Rose stated. “I bought half of that stuff. Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy it.”

We all walked out to the cars, and agreed to meet at the hotel so we could change before we went to dinner and then to Butchart Gardens. I had decided that I was going to wait until right before we went to bed to tell Bella I had also bought something. I think the gardens would relax her a little bit and she should be over, or mostly over, the fact that Alice and Rose bought her clothes.

~*~*~*~

The restaurant we went to had really good Italian food. Bella was always excited about having Italian. It was amazing how much fun we had at dinner. It was a really nice restaurant and Bella didn’t complain at all about how much her raviolis cost. (Though, she did glare at me a little, but she didn’t SAY anything!)

Once we were directed to a table, our waiter came up. “My name is Taylor. Can I start you off with any drinks?” He was starting right at Rose.

“I’ll have a Dr. Pepper and my girlfriend will have a green tea,” Emmett stated, cracking his knuckles.

Taylor jumped a little, once he looked at Emmett. Emmett can be intimidating. “Okay,” Taylor stated, stuttering a little before writing it down on his pad of paper. He then started staring at Bella. I almost started growling.

“My guy and I will have Sprite, please,” Alice said, trying to get the attention away from Bella. It didn’t work. Taylor someone scribbled Sprite down without looking down at his pad.

Bella put her hand on my arm. “I believe my boyfriend and I both want cokes.”

Taylor nodded and wrote it down. He didn’t move. “If you don’t mind, we would also all like water. We are thirsty, so you getting our drinks would be great,” I stated.

Taylor nodded again and slowly backed away from the table, never taking his eyes off of Bella. I couldn’t believe it. That sort of thing happened quite a bit, but he was basically undressing Bella with his eyes. Bella just rubbed her hand up and down my arm, trying to relax me. It worked. Luckily, Taylor stopped being as creepy. If he continued to look at Bella like he did, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

~*~*~*~

Once we got to the gardens, the girls were very excited. We had decided to go separate ways; it was a little romantic to be alone with your girlfriend and not with your four friends as well. Bella was entranced with all the flowers. She really liked the Narcissus. She said that they were happy flowers. I don’t know what a happy flower is, but I just nodded and made a mental note to get her some daffodils (that’s what the flowers looked like) when we got home. She also liked the tulips. I managed to get a really cool picture of her kneeling in front of a bed of multi-colored tulips, leaning over to smell one. It was amazing. I think I’ll have to develop the picture and get in framed so I can have it in my bedroom.

I really like the camellia shrub. Bella had stolen my camera and took a picture of me studding the giant pink flowers. Yeah, not a manly color, but it was pretty. Once we met up with everyone else, Rose instead that we all needed to take couple pictures here. There were several flowering trees and shrubs by the exit. Rose and Emmett took their picture by the magnolia tree. Alice and Jasper took theirs by the rhododendron. Bella insisted that we took ours underneath the Japanese Flowering Cherry. The number of pictures that Bella and I took here could fill an entire photo album. But now, I had ideas for her graduation present. Framed pictures. One of me with the camellia shrub and the one of the two of, for sure.

~*~*~*~

Back at our little hotel, Bella plopped down onto our bed. She looked exhausted. “Man, we walked a lot today. But, did you notice that I only tripped twice all day? I think that is a record for me!”

I laughed. “Very exciting, Bella.” I dropped her bags of clothes down in the corner and picked up the bag from the Apple Store.

I went to sit on the bed, with the bag. She rolled onto her side and looked at me. “Excited about your new little music toy?”

“Of course. I also got you a little something…”

“Edward Anthony Cullen! You are not suppose to buy me things! It is one thing to buy me food, but buying me things is completely different,” she scolded, sitting up on the bed so she could more easily glare at me.

“Too bad. I like getting stuff for you.” I dumped the bags out onto the bed. “Would you like the white one or the black one?”

“What?!? Did you honestly buy me an i-pod?” I nodded. She groaned. That was pretty much it for the argument. I think I got off pretty easy compared to what she normally goes through. We looked through all of the things I had got before we finally curled up on the bed.

Several hours after we had fallen asleep, my phone went off, singling that I had a text. Thankfully, it didn’t wake Bella up. She just shifted in her sleep when she heard the beeping. I grabbed my phone and looked at it.

We had woken up early, around six, to leave Victoria. Emmett, Jasper and I woke up first. Last night I had texted Emmett and Jasper to wake up at six so we could leave early. Each of us were able to quickly wake up our girlfriends. They ended up scrambling to throw all their things back into their suitcases when they heard that Renee had contacted us again through Emmett. They wanted to get back home as soon as possible. By six thirty, we were in the cars and racing back towards Forks. As soon as Bella and I hit the highway, I pulled out my cell phone.

“Dad. We have a problem,” I stated as soon as my dad answered his phone.

“Are you guys all right? Was there an accident?” Dad, of course, was very concerned about what was going on. He didn’t really want us going on vacation because we would be so far away, though he understood why the six of us needed some alone time.

“We’re all in one piece, physically. Mentally, we are a little scattered. Especially Bella and Emmett.” I glanced over at Bella, who was gazing out the window and had her fists clenched.

“What happened?”

“Renee texted Emmett late last night. She knows that we took our spring break vacation in Victoria. We are all coming back right now,” I explained. “We just got onto the highway.”

“I’ll call Emmett and Jasper. I want you all to come back to our house. I’ll get Charlie and the Hales here. We’ll discuss all of this when you guys get home,” Dad told me. I know that all of us needed to talk, but all I wanted to do was punch something.

I hung up the phone and tossed it into the cup holder. I sighed. Bella reached over and took my hand. I glanced over and she smiled at me. “Everything will work out. We’ll get Renee.”

As much as I wanted to believe that, I still wasn’t sure. Renee had gotten out of jail, ran on her bail and is coming after my girl. I just needed to stew. Bella wasn’t up for me stewing the entire ride home, so she grabbed my large CD case that was on the floor by her feet. She started flipping through the pages, trying to find what she was looking for. Bella finally picked the CD that she wanted. She put in the CD and pushed play. Debussy filled the car.

Bella knew that classical music would sooth my mood. Though my bad mood was slowly going away, it wouldn’t go away completely. I knew that Renee was out there somewhere and wanted to get to Bella. She was in the same city as us. She could have done something to my Bella. If Renee did anything to her, I don’t know if I could handle it. There was no why to completely calm down because of what was going on. Bella also knew that I wouldn’t really want to talk until we were able to come up with a plan of attack against Renee.

Since Emmett, Jasper and I are “crazy drivers” and love to speed, it didn’t take us very long to get back home. We were pushing the speed limits more than normal because of the circumstances. Once at my house, Bella and I quickly walked into the house and into the dining room. My parents, the Hales and Charlie were already sitting around the table. Mom kept their coffee cups full. When Bella and I reached the table, our friends walked into the house as well.

Charlie stood up and walked over to Bella, to give her a big hug. “So, do you guys know what is going on?” Bella asked timidly. We all sat at the empty chairs as Bella asked the question we all wanted to answer to.

“Just the basics,” Charlie stated. “Carlisle told us that Renee texted Emmett last night and that you were coming home early. You two know what is going on?” Charlie directed that question towards Mr. and Mrs. Hale.

“Jasper and Rose filled us in on Renee when she first started contacting Bella and Emmett again. We know the basics,” Mrs. Hale responded. “We want all of this to be over with.”

“How could Renee even know that we were in Victoria? Only we knew and the lawyer lady, right?” Emmett asked with a slightly confused expression on his face.

We all stared at each other. “That’s right. Ms. Weir knew. She would be the only one out of us that would tell Renee. None of us would tell Renee that the kids were going anywhere on spring break,” Mom said.

Bella dropped her head onto the table. She started pounding her head onto the table. I gently placed my hands underneath her head so she wouldn’t do any damage. “Why me?” Bella moaned. Luckily she stopped pounding her head, probably thinking she didn’t want to do any damage to my hand. “Crazy mother. Canceled my first trip to Canada. No fun spring break. Can’t trust our own freakin’ lawyer. Why can’t I have a normal life?”

Charlie chuckled a little at how Bella was acting. “What do we do know? We know she has to be the one who informs Renee.”

“Can’t we…like sue or something like that?” Emmett suggested. “Isn’t there like lawyer/client confidentiality oath thing that she has broken?”

Esme laughed. “I don’t know about that, but Charlie, Carlisle and I had her sign a contract. In that contract it states that if she talks to anyone outside our three families about this situation, we are able to fire her as well as sue her out of her practice.”

“What if Ms Weir considered Renee a member of one of these three families? She is Emmett and Bella’s mother, which makes her family,” Rose questioned.

I stiffened at that question. “I made sure that Ms Weir was aware that Renee was not apart of this family. Carlisle also made sure that was in the written agreement she signed. Which, a copy of that went to our regular lawyer as well, who works in Seattle. So, he is willing to help us sue her,” Carlisle answered.

I breathed a sigh of relief. After what felt like hours of talking about lawyers and how to further protect Bella and Emmett. All I wanted was to be alone with Bella. Our vacation time was cut short, so I was not able to get Bella all by myself, without my parents or her dad. Even though our friends were with us, they wouldn’t be barging into our room cause they also wanted to have their alone time.

“You kids, go have some fun and eventually find a bed. You guys don’t need to be here for us talking about suing the lawyer,” Charlie said. “Bella, Emmett, just let me know where you are sleeping by nine tonight.” The parents just chuckled.

“Ditto for our kids,” Carlisle and Esme said at the same time.

Jasper and Rose looked at their parents. “Let us know, as long as whoever is at our house is quiet during normal sleeping hours,” Mr. Hale stated. I snorted. Emmett started laughing really hard until Mr. Hale gave him a stern look.

“Rose, baby, how ‘bout my house?” Emmett asked. She smiled.

“We’re at Jasper’s,” Alice stated.

I looked at Bella, “Here is fine,” she whispered.

“We’re going upstairs. We might take a little nap. We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” I stated, dragging Bella to standing with me then up the stairs. I was vaguely aware of the sound of the door shutting.

Once in my room, Bella and I headed straight to my bed. We removed our shoes and lay down. “Sorry my mom ruined spring break,” Bella whispered into my chest.

“Well, she just ruined our trip. Hopefully we’ll have fun here in the tiny town of Forks,” I chuckled.

“I guess we could always go back to Victoria next spring break. Or even this summer,” Bella murmured before fading into sleep.

I wish that she wasn’t so tired. She only got about five hours of sleep last night. My heart had tightened at the thought of more vacations to come. More time together. Years together. I couldn’t wait for more time to just be with my Bella.

Epilogue-Bella’s POV

Six Months Later:

I couldn’t believe it. My mother was finally in jail for assault, harassment and running from the law. Our lawyer would never work again in the field of law. Frankly, I would be surprised if she would be able to have a decent job again. Oh well. Not my concern, happily. Though it took months to straighten everything out, find Renee and sue Ms. Weir, I am glad that it is all behind me before Edward and I start college. I don’t know if I could have handled Renee’s situation as well as trying to start my freshmen year of college.

Edward and I were excited about moving into the dorms. Though we both really wanted to find an apartment together, we figured it would be best if we did the normal freshmen thing first. I also didn’t want to have to tell my dad that Edward and I were moving in together as soon as we moved out of our parent’s house. That would not have gone over very well.

Dad and Carlisle rented a U-haul truck for our stuff. They drove down together, following Edward and I in his Volvo. My dad and I agreed that I should leave my truck in Forks. I didn’t really need a car in Seattle and I had Edward. So, if I was desperate for a car he would drive me, or let me borrow his car.

Four Years Later:

“WE GRADUATED!” I screamed as I launched myself at Edward.

He caught me in his arms and twirled me around. We just went through the extremely long and boring graduation ceremony. Edward started to kiss me on the lips, then we heard…

“We would like to celebrate as well,” Dad stated.

I giggled. “So, what’s it like to be a college graduate?” Esme asked.

“No idea,” Edward answered, smiling at his mother. “I’ll let you know after I have survived medical school.”

We all laughed. Carlisle, Esme, and Dad took Edward and I out to dinner that night to celebrate our night. We went to one of the fanciest restaurants in Seattle. Waterfront Seafood Grill. Of course, the parents talked almost non-stop about us being college graduates. That their babies are all grown up.

“So, Bella, Charlie told me you are going to get your masters? What in?” Carlisle asked.

I had to admit. I was surprised. If dad had told him that much, why didn’t he tell him the rest? “Well, as you guys know, I changed my major from English to psychology. So I am going to get my masters in psychology in order to work with kids who have been abused, abandoned, that kind of thing.”

“Wow,” Esme stated. “We’re going to be getting a doctor and a psychologist. We’ll have to be careful. Bella is going to start psycho analyzing us.”

Dad started laughing. “She already does that to me. After she graduates from her master’s program, she’ll be able to get paid for it.”

We all laughed. “Just like Edward will be able to professionally patch her up. Think of how much your ER trips will be cut down, Bella,” Carlisle stated.

Of course Edward laughed the loudest and the hardest. I glared at him. “Thanks, hon,” I snorted.

“What? It’s true!” Edward, though, stopped laughing and just managed to do a chuckle. I smiled at him and laughed a little as well.

When dinner was finally finished, Edward casually ordered a bottle of wine for the five of us. Charlie chocked on his water (he likes to pretend that Edward and I are still underage virgins) while Carlisle and Esme just raised their eyebrows at him. The wine arrived and was poured by our waitress. She left as soon as all five glasses were poured. Edward clasped my hand under the table. I stared to fidget nervously. “We have something we’d like to tell you,” I told our parents.

Charlie abruptly sat down his wine glass without taking a sip. “Please tell me you aren’t pregnant,” he stated harshly.

“Dad! I’m not pregnant. I want to finish my masters before I have any kids,” I responded. “As I was saying, Edward and I need to tell the three of you something.”

“I asked Bella to marry me and she said yes. We’d like to get married this summer with your blessing,” Edward finished what I was going to say.

Esme started crying, Dad looked stunned and Carlisle stood up and hugged us. “You two have my blessing. You always have. I honestly thought that you two would have told us you were getting married a long time ago,” Carlisle whispered to us.

Dad, who was sitting next to me, gave me a hug as well. “Of course you have my blessing, Bells. Though I may think Edward isn’t perfect for you, you are my only daughter. I want you to be happy. Edward. Take good care of her.” Dad reached over me and shook Edward’s hand.

“I will always take care of her, sir. She means the world to me,” Edward said.

Esme started crying harder. She gave Edward a big hug, then got up and gave me a hug as well. She kissed my cheek. I smiled up at her. “I’ll finally have a normal mom,” I stated. Everyone at the table laughed.

A couple hours later:

“They took that rather well,” I stated as Edward and I walked into our apartment. We would be leaving it soon and moving to New Hampshire to go to Dartmouth. I still couldn’t believe that I made it into Dartmouth.

“We’ve only been dating for five years, Bella. I’m sure they assumed it was coming,” Edward replied.

“I know but still. Dad still likes to be Dad. He knew this was coming, seeing how we went to the same college and have lived together for three years. I don’t know how he is going to handle me moving across the country though.”

“It won’t be for long, Bella. Just until we graduate. We both want to live in Washington or Oregon.”

I nodded. Edward and I have had several long discussions about where we wanted to get our next degree, where we wanted to live after I was a physiologist and he was a doctor. In a way it frightened me. We were growing up and having to make our own way in life. We were a couple deciding things that would affect the rest of our lives.

“Are you just going to sit there and contemplate things for the rest of the night, or are we going to celebrate?” Edward asked. He came up behind me and gave me a hug. His lips started moving across my neck. Kissing me below the ear, gently licking me. I shivered.

I turned in his arms and through my arms around his neck. I responded with a kiss on the lips. I had meant for it to be soft and light, but it quickly turned into a kiss full of lust and passion. Edward slowly walked my backwards into our bedroom. We had been so busy in the last couple of weeks that we hardly had any alone time together. So finally being able to fully enjoy each other was a huge thing. Feeling Edward undress me still sent pleasure shocks through my body. I smiled up at him as I reached for the zipper of his pants.

Four Years Later-EPOV

Bella and I were officially done with school. I couldn’t believe that we were finally done with Dartmouth and that we could move back to a state that we enjoyed being in. Though our parents were there for our graduation, we didn’t want to celebrate until we got home to Forks. We wanted to have Emmett, Alice and all of the Hales there. Emmett, Alice, Rose and Jasper were all planning on going to Forks for a month. We were finally going to have our week in Canada that we didn’t get almost a decade ago. It will also be the second time the six of us would be in Forks at the same time since we graduated high school. The last time it happened was when Bella and I got married.

Dad and Mom insisted on taking all of us out to dinner. So, there were 11 of us sitting around a table at The Diner. Not the most fancy place to eat out for a celebration, but we didn’t care. “So, any interesting announcements to make, Bella?” Charlie asked.

To my surprise, Bella chocked on her water and started coughing. She was turning bright red and couldn’t stop couching. “As far as I know, there are no announcements,” I replied for her, gently patting her on the back.

Alice piped in, “As far as you know. Does Bella really tell you everything?”

“What kind of thing would she not tell Edward?” Emmett asked.

“I don’t tell you everything,” Rose told her boyfriend. Emmett looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “I don’t. Like what we did during Bella’s bacholorate party. There are things that guys just should not know.”

“Bacholorate party?” Charlie asked.

“It was so much fun,” Alice bounced. “We got really, really dr…”
“That is my father you are telling, Alice,” Bella said. “We just hung out, Dad. Nothing to worry about.”

“So, all in all, no crazy announcements? You guys aren’t moving to Australia or anything?” Carlisle asked.

I laughed out loud. “No. Both Bella and I are going to get jobs in Seattle. We want to take six to twelve months off and relax before jumping in. Though, before we start at our jobs we want to look for a house.”

“A house?” Mom asked.

Bella smiled. “Yes, you can help us decorate. As long as everything is safe for babies.”

“Babies?” Mom and I asked at the same time.

Bella looked at me. “Yes. Babies. I just found out that I am two and a half months pregnant…with twins.”

My jaw dropped. Words would not come out of my mouth. Alice and Rose jumped up and were running around the table. Alice lunched herself at Bella and gave her a big hug. Rose also attached herself to my wife. I looked over at Charlie and at Emmett. Their jaws were also hanging open. I looked back at Bella. Rose and Alice and gone back to their seats. I leaned over towards Bella and swept her into a big hug. Not caring that our friends and family surrounded us, I gave her a very long kiss. I couldn’t believe I am going to be a father. “You okay with this, Daddy?” Bella whispered.

I laughed. “Of course I’m okay with this. We’re going to be parents.” I smiled widely.

Both Charlie and Emmett got up and to give Bella a hug and to shake my hand. “Take care of her,” Emmett told me.

“No problem,” I informed him. Through out the rest of dinner, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Bella. There was a life growing inside of her…two lives! We were going to be parents. Our lives were finally starting to take off. We were done with college. We were going to be parents. We were going to have real jobs. Bella was my future and she just kept giving to me. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have her in my life.

The End